And I agree with Robomatic about VAT. It's a tax that only Joe Soaps pay; business people can get their VAT back.

Another common misunderstanding. The consumer pays VAT on the final cost of the goods. The business supplying those goods charges that VAT and passes that charge on to the government (HMRC in the case of UK). In doing so, they can reclaim (in most cases) the VAT they have incurred in making their supply. So they are effectively paying the government for VAT on the difference between what it costs them to make the supply, and the price they charge to the end user. This is VAT (Value Added Tax) they are accounting for VAT on the value they have added to the transaction.
The same is true for the other traders further down the supply chain. So the VAT on the final supply accounts for the value added at every stage of the supply.

So business people can get their VAT back is only true when they are charging a greater amount of VAT to their customers, and handing it over to the government.

There are exceptions to the above when the final supply made is, for some reason, Zero-rated, such as books, children's clothes or new build domestic properties.