Value Added Tax. A particularily evil form of taxation under which for every item sold, a certain percentage goes to the government. In the UK there are three rates of VAT, 0% (exceptions such as basic foodstuffs, children's clothes and books), 8% (household fuel and electricity) and 20% (for just about everything else).
If any fractions of a penny remain in the calculation, they are ignored.
It occurs to me that VAT completes the picture- you're taxed when you earn, when you save and when you spend- there is no escape.