Whenever I visit Europe, the high VAT makes me curious about the history and the general perception of it in Europe across various socioeconomic classes. Most countries in Europe have pretty high VAT rate when compared to the sales tax rate in the US (CA, which has the highest rate, is at 7.25% and also 0% in some states)
VAT seems to disproportionately affect the working/middle class, given the portion of income spent on everyday items would be relatively high. Although many countries have VAT exemption or reduction for certain essentials like grocery, VAT seems to crawl into lots of everyday transactions that are not necessarily "luxury"/conspicuous spending—such as buying a cup of coffee, getting takeout for lunch, buying books, etc.
My understanding is that Europe already has higher income tax rates, so do a lot of people feel like they're getting double-taxed?
Is the tolerance of VAT different across countries in Europe or is it pretty much well accepted across?