It should be noted that VATs can be implemented in a progressive manner. Give everyone (or anyone under a certain income) an exemption that covers VAT for necessities, exempt items like rent/utilities from it, etc.
In reality, it doesn’t even work. Poor people spend money on luxuries in order to gain status which they need to attract a partner. Rich people don’t need to do to spend their money to gain status since they already have it by virtue of being rich.
I would think it would be easier to use transfer payments (like SNAP) to ensure that the exemption is not used for the benefit of non-low-income individuals.
Alternatively, you can have a prepaid or postpaid refundable VAT, where individuals can get their VAT refunded (up to a limit) based on income.