The paper is organized in four Sections. Section 1 sets out briefly why subnational VATs
have often been considered undesirable, or even infeasible, and the centralizing solutions
that have usually been proposed. Section 2 then takes up in more detail the problem of crossborder
trade when such a solution is not acceptable and briefly reviews some of the extensive
European literature on this subject. Section 3 then discusses recent experience with two-tier
sales taxation in Canada, the only developed country with a dual VAT system. We argue
that one of the systems currently in use in Canada—the Qu´ebec Sales Tax (QST)—not only
deals adequately with most of the objections raised against dualVATs but also resolves much of the cross-border problem in a manner consistent with maintaining the fiscal autonomy
of member states. Instead of two problems—dual VATs and cross-border trade—the “dual
VAT” is not a problem in itself and even offers a partial solution to the cross-border problem.
Section 4 concludes with a brief statement of the political and administrative conditions
that seem necessary to make the QST solution feasible.