Always consult a lawyer. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, but if you are paying the difference, then why would the government care if the consumer paid less? There are probably countries where doing this can cause problems, audits, book keeping issues, etc... For sure, ask a lawyer.
Obligatory, I am not a tax lawyer. My, laymen, understanding of VAT is that it is the companies responsibility to pay 100% of the VAT. You can "pass" some, all, or none of it on to your consumers. You can show them on their receipts that you are charging them VAT, or not. This is fundamentally different from a sales tax, where the one purchasing the product must pay the sales tax at the point of sale. You are legally responsible for recording your sales and paying the VAT on them, but as far as I know you don't have to tell/show your consumers what, if any, of they payment goes to VAT (but you CAN of course).
I am just some random internet person, so I would suggest, as the other commenter did, to check with a tax lawyer.
