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Post by zed on Dec 24, 2014 10:41:42 GMT
But would 'someone on the internet said I didn't have to' work as a defence if anyone got investigated Regardless of whose responsibility it is, and I definitely agree with that sentiment too, Lyn, I don't want to add tax to my stuff. And not just because of the hassle of it all, but on principle. We don't have tax on books here, yeah, they may be a 'luxury', but I don't agree with it. And I certainly don't agree with adding it on for just EU citizens, why should they be made to give their governments 80 cents or more on top of the cost of the book just because they want to learn something new? I emailed David Gauke, MP, He's the 'Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and Minister responsible for HMRC' I asked him what he was going to do about it. I didn't know it was formed 6 years ago, I did a bit of digging and came up with some white and green papers and committee stage stuff, but it all said the same thing, though the emphasis that it should be equal and easy for everyone seems to be the only point they didn't work on.
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Post by lyn on Dec 24, 2014 11:01:35 GMT
Well, I'm still fuming that everyone in the world is expected to be an unpaid tax collector for European countries!
Etsy issued a statement today, and I was going to copy and paste it here for everyone to see but the webpages are now "down". That's convenient then, no-one can enter comments!
To sum it up though, Etsy is still not accepting responsibility for the vat even though HMRC rules state that Etsy is responsible.
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Post by lyn on Dec 24, 2014 11:03:25 GMT
'Ello - the webpage is back up - here's the statement:
We've heard your concerns about how the new VAT rules on digital items will impact your business. This is a complex issue that we are all navigating together; please know that we are actively working on some solutions to help.
We realize that it would be more helpful to provide more specific information on some of the changes we're making related to your concerns: 1) Providing information on buyer countries: Beginning in January, you’ll be able to verify the country of your buyers. 2) Control over where you sell items: We’ve heard from you that you’d like to be able to control the countries in which you sell digital items. We are looking into the feasibility of this and will update you in early 2015. Some of you have also asked if the new VAT rules apply to digital items that are delivered to customers by email. At least in the UK, the government has taken the position that PDFs manually emailed by sellers are not covered by the new rules.
We will continue to provide updates as soon as we have new information.
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Post by Shepherdess on Dec 24, 2014 13:00:53 GMT
Zed wouldn't World of Wool be responsible for the VAT just like they are for everything else they sell? sounds like typical etsy to me, I hear nothing but complaints about there attitude to there sellers. It will be interesting to see if the EU goes to them at the end of the year and audits them for not remitting their VAT on everything that was sold on their site. even if the believe they are not responsible for the individual sales they would be responsible for the money they charge the sellers in the EU
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Post by zed on Dec 25, 2014 10:35:27 GMT
I can kind of understand etsy's point of view, being an online venue/marketplace is no different to a real one, but, they have the resources to provide a tool for adding to the checkout process which would add VAT for a customer based on the country they are in. They need to think about it for 2016.
Then again, maybe it will help us in the long run, if we all refuse to be unpaid tax collectors, the responsibility will fall back to the countries who want to impose it. Though, I still think that's unfair, why someone in Brussels can decide that if someone in Sweden wants to buy my book, Sweden must add VAT on it, and then collect it for themselves, even if Sweden oppose. It's all crazy.
Ann, I suppose technically World of Wool would be, but they don't have the time to do it either. It's not worth it for the small amount of money they get from 1 sale, it'd cost more in man hours to add and file the taxes.
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Post by Shepherdess on Dec 25, 2014 11:07:55 GMT
Doesn't world of wool have to charge Vat on wool? If so they would just add the books to the system.
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Post by zed on Dec 26, 2014 10:06:30 GMT
It's not that simple, Ann. Here in the UK, if you charge VAT, you know what the rate is. Mostly 20%, with a reduced rate of 5% for some things.
So, you add the VAT on, then you give that amount to HMRC. (and claim back any business related VAT you paid in the same tax period)
In the EU, every country has different rates. And many are planning to change them.
So, if World of Wool, or you, or me, or Ruth (it doesn't matter where in the world the seller is, or how big their business) wanted to sell ebooks for automatic download and someone from Sweden wanted to buy one, we'd have to look up how much VAT Sweden adds to ebooks, add it to the price, then file tax returns with Sweden and give them the few Kronas in tax.
And we would have to do that for every person from every EU country. Add and keep records of the tax, and file tax returns every quarter. Here they have the MOSS (mini one stop shop) which should enable people to file 1 tax return every quarter for multiple countries. I don't know who collects and redistributes it, though.
Don't worry, you'll all get the hang of it because it will be on all goods sold from 2016 if they get their way.
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Post by Teri Berry on Dec 26, 2014 10:57:13 GMT
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Post by lyn on Dec 26, 2014 12:04:12 GMT
The only thing that would be good for micro businesses worldwide is a threshold below which taxes don't apply - like the UK VAT system.
As a stop-gap, until 2016 when the rules change, and to keep on the right side of the law, rosiepink will email pdf attachments to the EU.
I haven't thought any further ahead than that - I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a sensible solution to be reached by those in power.
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Post by Shepherdess on Dec 26, 2014 15:27:41 GMT
It will probably take a world wide scream like when they were telling farmers to throw out all non perfect/ standard vegetables. And saying they couldn't sell them for processing or give them away to the poor or social services.
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Post by lyn on Dec 26, 2014 17:25:42 GMT
Turn the volume up...ready?
AARRRRGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!
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