Yes, but it’s a direct line item when they buy something. And only consumers don’t get it back. It is a tax on consumers specifically.

Except it isn't, yes it works out like that, but legally it is a tax on the value added by the company. It is just passed on to the consumer by 100%, but that is the same for any tax.

Just like with any value added, sales or revenue tax it will be passed onto the consumer 1 to 1, but it doesn't change the fact it is designed as a company tax and tax systems are based around that fact.

Only if everybody could keep a proper bookkeeping you could go to a system where your find a system that taxes only the businesses and the consumers get it back, but in the end the companies would just increase the prices and pass it onto the consumers anyway.

You can read the Dutch law https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0002629/2026-01-01#HoofdstukII and it basically only speaks about companies.

But they aren’t discriminating by your country of residence. The PRICE that the vendor charges is the same regardless of where you’re from. Your own country charges VAT, through the vendor. That’s on top of the price.

Technically they are, again not the consumers issue that the VAT rate is higher. If the company doesn't need to pay VAT (because of the revenue being so low in that year) then they don't have to pay VAT, but it doesn't change the price of the product you buy, at least not in basis. The suggested retail price stays the same, the price for digital goods stay the same.

It has been a while since I read the law's myself (I stay updated based on the changes from my collegues who are tax specialists). Which does mean that I can also be mistaken, but as far as I know the unfair pricing goes over this https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/unfair-treatment/unfair-pricing/index_en.htm, but yeah it is for B2C mainly and not for B2B. You look at if you are majorly B2B or B2C and list your prices based on that.

It is also hard to do this properly, in the end you cannot ask somebody from a 3rd world country to pay 60 euro for the same (digital) game as somebody in the EU, but in the end the costs for the seller are basically the same.

It sorta is, we’re the only ones paying it in reality? Well consumers don't pay it to the tax offices, nor do they do the reporting. It is a tax based on the added value the company brings to the end product. If you buy stuff for 100k excluding VAT and sell it for 200k excluding VAT ou pay 42k minus 21K aka 21K VAT. Which is 21% of your "profit" (in NL). It is just that it is a transparant tax and easily calculated that the end consumer also pays the 21% VAT rate. At the same time end consumers also pay for the profit tax, wage tax and other forms of tax that a company has to pay, but those aren't as easely calculated.

No of course there isn't an unified American culture, but there are people hard at work at destroying all forms of culture in the US.

Yes there is top down economic pressure and a lot of fedaral pressure, but it is also just people choosing to do things a certain way. Going out and buying a coffee instead of using their drip coffee machine or buying an espresso machine. Shopping at Amazon, Walmart or whatever instead of supporting local businesses.

Working against people who are trying to create better walkable/bikeable neighbourhouds etc.

Sooner or later the current iteration of the US will fall and it will probably mean that the entire country falls apart. In some ways or another state's already function more like separate countries than in say the EU.

All prices are excluding VAT as VAT differs per country. Growing up means understanding Americans maybe had a point with this one. Lastly, no referral links will be provided.

There are rules and regulations set into place in the EU that the prices including VAT should be the same for consumers. Which means that there shouldn't be a difference in price even though there is a difference in VAT rate. When dealing with B2B then it is a different story, then you should exclude the VAT.

It is also not the end consumers problem that the VAT rate is higher, same as that it isn't our issue when the profit tax is higher.

Even small countries like The Netherlands have loads of cultural differences, of course the US has that.

Doesn't change the fact that we are all Dutch and you are all American's.

America also has the weird thing that most of the stores and restaurants are chains apparantly. Or at least that is what most of the terminal online American's want us to believe.

Edit: the basis in things like school systems, suburbs and angelo-saxton company "culture" also don't help

Huawei, Xiami and other Chinese brands still exist, not sure which models or brands support it but there are still multiple who support you running your own OS on them.

But it is America who enabled the tech companies getting to the point where they are

Printing companies should stop selling in California.

Everybody should also stop considering the US like one country, because it functions less than one country than the EU and the EU isn't and the US is.

iPhoines, Playsations, Samsung phones or other expensive tech.

Well, I paid 1 euro for Whatsapp back in the day because it was the only option besides SMS and so that 1 euro was way cheaper.

These days I gladly pay a couple bucks for a chat app that everybody uses so that they can pay the bills without selling my data or being funded by a corrupt government.

Which is went to Matrix, but it is hard to get people on the server I host myself.

And some strands are worse than others, like the US strand of the religion

Just get rid of as much American software as you can. The US is a mess and the cloud act will always be abused.

Edit: or open source software