This paper points out the importance of the application of value added tax in the Republic of Croatia and the national systems of the European Union member states. Value added tax is applied in all countries of the European Union and it is a net all-stage sales tax. Although it has many advantages due to its big revenue and big taxable base, many also find its disadvantages, the main one being that the value added tax is regressive. Through the effect of regression, negative differences in the amount of tax burden of individuals are realized. Furthermore, the main features of value added tax in the Republic of Croatia are presented, namely: taxpayer, subject of taxation, taxable transactions, place of taxation, tax rate and exemptions. In addition to the above, the historical development of the legislation governing value added tax is also discussed. Then, the elaboration of all the above criteria is followed by all EU member states, except the Republic of Croatia, which is discussed in a separate chapter, which are divided according to a certain distribution key. A number of data series were processed through data analysis. The comparison showed the dependence of each country's tax system on value added tax revenues, and they were put in relation to total tax revenues and gross domestic product. The correlation between the share of revenues from value added tax and gross domestic product and the general tax rate of value added tax showed a positive correlation. On the other hand, the level of consumer prices in the Member States of the European Union is not linked to the level of tax rates or the share of tax revenue in gross domestic product. The dependence of an individual country on value added tax is different, but in the case of the Republic of Croatia this dependence is significant and value added tax is the basis of the entire tax system.