1. avt does not conform to the morpheme constrains of English
2. The tax is the Tax on the Value (which has been) Added (to the item)
The parentheses are to indicate words deleted from the final expression. Thus, a VAT
I think this method of forming modifiers out of a noun and verb is fairly common. For example
Light bending device
mountain grown coffee
What I don’t understand is why sitting around in the retail shop adds value to the goods. Besides, if it were actually a Value Added Tax, I think it should calculated from the amount by which the value of the goods increased over the cost of the raw materials.
I suppose ‘added value’ means that the value has increased (either by reducing the price or by increasing the quality). ‘Value added’ that something has been added to the value (like a tax). Most people use the phrase ‘value added’ to mean ‘added value’, and really meaning increased quality. Compare ‘manmade’ and ‘made man’.
- Garzo
PS I am just so tired of those rich people deflating the value of fairness. ;)
I suppose that I was not sufficiently precise in posing my question. I don’t think twice about "value added" in the context of a sales tax, whether it is VAT or TVA (as it is referred to in some European countries).
I was more thinking about it in the business arena (i.e. not the commerce arena), where people will speak of a "value added" proposition. Or where one might say that such and such a strategy brings "value added" to the plan, etc.
It seems to be a piece of quite inane business jargon. It almost always seems to mean ‘improved quality’ or ‘increased profits’, both ideas being incorporated into the nebulous term ‘value’. At least in terms of tax it makes some sense.
Perhaps the next time we hear someone say ‘added value’ we should ask them if they simply mean ‘improved quality’. If they then agree, we might exhort them to eschew further obfuscation.
Not to mention it’s just plain easier to say VAR (Value Added Reseller) than AVR (Added Value Reseller)... Although many VAR’s forget they’re supposed to be more than just a reseller…!
I’ve been through more than one business restructuring where "value added" was slung about in pep talks urging us to comply, as we embraced change! :D I don’t think it means anything, really. It just sounds as though it should mean something, and that is quite good enough for those who need to prove value in order to hang onto their territory and budgets.
[quote author=gailr link=board=idiom;num=1084945673;start=0#11 date=05/19/04 at 12:06:24]I’ve been through more than one business restructuring where "value added" was slung about in pep talks urging us to comply, as we embraced change! :D I don’t think it means anything, really. It just sounds as though it should mean something, and that is quite good enough for those who need to prove value in order to hang onto their territory and budgets.
Value added also a real meaning in the realm of tariffs on importations.
If something is exported from a country to another country to add a component or to increase the value of in some other way, upon reimportationa tariff is often placed only on the "value added", not on the value of the entire product.
While I couldn’t find a definition in the yDc’s AHD, I did find one at WordReference.com:
value added
noun the difference between the total revenues of a firm, industry, etc., and its total purchases from other firms, industries, etc. The aggregate of values added throughout an economy (gross value added) represents that economy’s gross domestic product
It smells to me like it’s been imported from the Dismal Science (Economics) into MBA-Speak, and from there into use by marketers and management wannabes who really have no foggy notion of what they are talking about.
Well Larry, you seem to be on the right track. I am certain that most users of the term do not intend to convey that they, or others, are bring GDP to the table.
Another interesting word, from the world of accounting, is "goodwill". It seems to almost be an oxymoron, in that one could ask "how good is the will, if it expires over time?". (see below)
In the accounting sense, Goodwill can be thought of as a "premium" for buying a business. When one company buys another, the amount they pay is called the purchase price. Accountants take the purchase price and subtract it by a company’s book value. The difference is called Goodwill. (There is a review of book value in Part 27.)
When a company buys another company, they can use one of two accounting methods: pooling of interest or purchase. When the pooling of interest method is used, the balance sheets of the two businesses are combined and no goodwill is created. When the purchase method is used, the acquiring company will put the premium they paid for the other company on their balance sheet under the "Goodwill" category. Accounting rules require the goodwill be amortized over the course of 40 years.
