Almost all countries levy general consumption taxes i.e. taxes on the sale of most goods and services to consumers. In the vast majority of those countries, this tax is a VAT i.e. a tax collected at all stages of the processes of production and distribution of goods and services, accumulation of the tax being prevented by allowing businesses to deduct the tax they incur on their inputs from the tax they collect on their outputs. A minority of countries apply retail sales taxes, i.e. single-stage taxes on goods and services supplied to final consumers. All OECD countries levy VAT, except the United States, where resale sales taxes are levied at sub-national level (see ).