Not like a VAT TAX; this adds on MUCH more than what is added on now! And it makes all products extremely expensive!
Hold up for a second. Let's run some numbers rather than just saying "VAT IS BAD!"...
Assume you run a business that has $1,000,000 gross revenue. You shoot for the normal 10% net profit. That's $100,000 in profit on $1,000,000 in revenue. Today's tax rate is 39.6% on gross profit. You need to make ($100,000 / (1-0.396)) $165,289 in gross profit to end up with $100,000 net.
Taxes would be ($165,289 - $100,000) $65,289. With me so far? This is TODAY'S method. And since we all know that businesses don't actually pay tax (they collect it from their customers), that means customers are paying $65,289 in extra tax on that - about a 6.5% tax rate on gross receipts.
Now, how about a VAT situation? Well, VAT is Value Added Tax; it's not on gross receipts but only on the value you've added to the product (your addition). So assume that you start with $500,000 worth of raw materials, and you add $500,000 in value to them - that's how you get to that $1,000,000 in revenue. And we have the same gross profit - $165,289. What is the 16% VAT tax?
It would be (($500,000 - $165,289) * 0.16) $53,554. Meaning after the VAT is paid the business has ($165,289 - $53,554) $111,736 remaining. Taxes paid by consumers (and collected by the business) are about 5.3% of gross receipts.
Now, the business owner can keep the extra $11,736 - or he can cut prices by that much for his consumers, giving a 1.2% price cut, meaning the actual cost to consumers, as compared to today's method, is (6.5% - (5.3% - 1.2%)) 2.1% lower. So it's either a net savings to the consumer, or more profit for the business. Realistically, it's probably going to end up as a mix of both.
Replacing the corporate income tax with a VAT tax is not a bad thing provided the VAT tax rate is set sensibly. It can actually be a good thing! IMHO it's always bad to tax income, as that hinders and restrains savings. Better to tax consumption, when dollars are spent rather than earned. The consumer (corporate or individual) can choose the tax load and when it is spent, rather than Government getting "first dibs" on your life energy.
And yes, I've lived overseas extensively, and have experienced terrible tax regimes (US, Belgium), acceptable ones (Chile), and really really good ones (Hong Kong and Singapore).