A tax on the purchase of a good or service. Consumption taxes can take the form of sales taxes, tariffs, excise and other taxes on consumed goods and services. The term can also refer to a taxing system as a whole where people are taxed based on how much they consume rather than how much they add to the economy (income tax). The consumption tax is not a new idea. It was used by the U.S. government for much of our history before being replaced with an income tax. The Bush administration backed a version of this in 2003, although the proposal was defeated. Ideally, a properly designed consumption tax system would reward savers and penalize spenders.