Happy 72nd Birthday to VAT

10th April 1954 France adopted VAT in Ivory Coast; now implemented in 176 countries

Value Added Tax turns 72 today, 10^th April 2026.  It was first introduced in April 1954 in the French colony of Ivory Coast. VAT was then implemented in France in 1956 to a limited number of businesses and suppliers as part of a fiscal reform to simplify its jumbled tax regime. It was fully imposed across all businesses by the end of the 1960’s. VAT was formally adopted as an EU-wide tax in 1977.

Since then, VAT and GST has spread to 176 jurisdictions which have been keen to pivot from income to consumption taxes. The next countries are likely to be Liberia and Aruba.

The concept of a full supply chain tax payable by the consumer was first conceived in Germany in 1918 by a member of the Siemens engineering family, Wilhelm von Siemens.

VAT & GST in 176 countries in 72 years

Countries with VAT or GST 2026