I mean, as a European: have you visited the US and noticed that they don’t even include tax within the price (meaning you’ll pay more at checkout since that’s where it only appears)? It’s ridiculous, most countries include VAT within the price of their goods and services but. At least within the EU, VAT is included within the price making it final without any arithmetic.
AFAIK, VAT is collected by each vendor at every layer in the supply chain. Those collected taxes are remitted to the tax authority. Everyone in that chain - except the final, retail consumer - can reclaim their VAT expenses from the tax authority.
American-style “Sales Tax” is only charged to the final, retail consumer. Everyone else in the chain can issue a “tax exemption certificate” to the seller, who does not collect the sales tax or remit it to the tax authority.
In both systems, the tax and sales price have to be disclosed separately. Under VAT, you have to pay it now and reclaim it later (if eligible). Under Sales Tax, (if eligible), you don’t pay it; there is nothing to reclaim.