Which type of tax can be shifted to others, such as value-added tax or sales tax?

The correct answer is that the type of tax that can be shifted to others is an indirect tax. Indirect taxes are levied on goods and services rather than on income or profit. This means that businesses collect these taxes from consumers when products are sold, and, therefore, they are often passed on to the end consumer in the form of higher prices for goods and services.

For instance, in the case of value-added tax (VAT) or sales tax, consumers ultimately bear the cost of the tax, as businesses include these taxes in the pricing of their products. This ability to pass on the tax burden makes indirect taxes distinctly different from direct taxes, which are imposed directly on an individual's or corporation's income and cannot be transferred to someone else.

In contrast, direct taxes, such as income tax, are directly paid by the individual or entity responsible for the income, thus cannot be shifted to another party. Progressive and flat taxes describe how tax rates vary with income levels but do not address the ability to shift the tax burden. A progressive tax increases the tax rate as income rises, while a flat tax applies the same rate to all levels of income.