And that changes the fact that I've come across people using the terms interchangeably, how?
Ok, lets start. You said.
Often the term duty is used to refer to VAT by the average person.
Everyone else in this thread disagreed that they related 'duties' to VAT.
You seemed to have changed your stance from 'the average person' to 'ive come across people...'. Please stick to one point in future.