A snippet in my paper said that the UK had diverged from the EU 7 months early by dropping the rate of VAT on digital media (including e-newspapers and e-books) to zero, the government claiming it was unfair to tax e-learning, especially with lockdown.
Has this actually happened? Has Bookapy, Amazon etc stopped charging VAT on e-books for UK customers?
AJ
Amazon uk site has the following;
Printed books, digital newspaper and subscriptions, e-periodicals and subscriptions, and Kindle electronic books are eligible for 0% VAT.
However, certain non-printed book items are charged at the standard VAT rate of 20%. These include audio books and CD-ROMs.
So presumably it has indeed happened.
However, certain non-printed book items are charged at the standard VAT rate of 20%. These include audio books and CD-ROMs
That's wrong.
The government specifically wanted 0% VAT on audio books because of their benefit to the disabled in these testing times.
Scamazon:(
ETA - a belated thank you for doing my research for me.
AJ
Scamazon:(
Just because they charge customers tax not due, whilst avoid paying tax, does not make them scammers, just assholes.
The government specifically wanted 0% VAT on audio books because of their benefit to the disabled in these testing times.
From the gov site;
Audiobooks
The extension only applies to the supply of electronic versions of books already zero rated in UK law. As such, zero-rating is limited to electronic versions of books that can be read or looked at. Supplies of audiobooks remain taxable at the standard rate whether supplied in a physical or digital format.
Example
A business supplies an e-audiobook that is narrated by a well-known actor. It is designed only to be listened to. Since this e-audiobook is wholly devoted to audio content, its supply will be standard rated for VAT purposes.
Thank you.
I guess we weren't allowed to completely diverge from EU regulations and audiobooks will have to wait till the end of the year, unless HMRC have subverted the government's intentions.
AJ
ETA - a belated thank you for doing my research for me.
Can I expect the e-cheque in the e-mail... Or does AJ need a BJ first...?Again..!
:)
I'll happily send you a cheque refunding all the VAT you've paid on my SOL stories ;)
You've posted stories on SoL....??
[Insert the mean girls dance here]
:)
You've posted stories on SoL....??
[Insert the mean girls dance here]
Given the number of 1-bombs, many readers think not.
But at least people know where to find my SOL quasi-stories.
[Repeats the mean girls dance and embellishes it by ending with a twiddle]
AJ
The government specifically wanted 0% VAT on audio books because of their benefit to the disabled in these testing times.
Clever pun (even if unintentionally) when describing eLearning.
Has Bookapy, Amazon etc stopped charging VAT on e-books for UK customers?
Unlike U.S. sales tax, Amazon doesn't charge the customer a VAT. The author has to build it into the price of the ebook or ends up paying it.
It used to be easy. All ebooks sold in the EU countries were charged a 3% VAT for Luxembourg so Amazon automatically added the 3% to the selling price. But then the EU wanted more money so each country determined it's own. Now the author has to add a different VAT percent for each country or end up paying it rather than the customer.
So if what you're saying is true, I'm overcharging for ebooks sold in the UK by 20%.
I'm overcharging for ebooks sold in the UK by 20%.
Check the link I posted. Also note it only came into force on the 1st May 2020
What do you mean?
You are looking at a web page with your browser.
Your browser almost certainly has a facility to search the page for a given text string.
Task it with finding the word 'source'.
HTH,
AJ
It used to be easy. All ebooks sold in the EU countries were charged a 3% VAT for Luxembourg so Amazon automatically added the 3% to the selling price. But then the EU wanted more money so each country determined it's own. Now the author has to add a different VAT percent for each country or end up paying it rather than the customer.
No, the EU has long had different prices between the various EU countries. What Amazon doing was a scam, in that they 'stored' their ebook warehouse in Luxemburg, in order to pay the least amount of taxes. The EU courts eventually found that violated the law, so Amazon was forced to pay restitution for cheating the EU (and authors and booksellers) out of their fair-market earnings.
so Amazon was forced to pay restitution for cheating the EU (and authors and booksellers)
Cheating authors? - No
Cheating booksellers? - I don't see how.
It was an advantage to book buyers because they paid less for the book.
It was an advantage to authors because they didn't have to calculate the VAT (and their books cost less).
A scam? I don't think so. They sold out of Luxembourg so they charged the Luxembourg rate. But the governments wanted their tax money. As to losing a court case to EU's socialist policies, I won't even bring that up.
Hmm,
if I understand the US sales tax system correctly, then the bookseller has to add the sales tax for such customers living in states with an additional sales tax. So the tax of the buyer's residence is applicable, not the seller's residence!
Amazon however tried in the EU to apply the tax of the seller's residence (Luxemburg).
And Amazon cheated the European booksellers who had to apply their higher local VAT, by pricing books sold by Amazon with the low VAT of Luxemburg.
BTW Amazon cheated even customers living in countries with RPM for books (Germany, Austria) by applying the fixed retail prices (which include the German VAT) for German books while using the lower VAT of Luxemburg.
HM.
if I understand the US sales tax system correctly, then the bookseller has to add the sales tax for such customers living in states with an additional sales tax.
Clearly you don't understand the US sales tax system. In the US there is no national general purpose sales tax, so the state sales tax would not be additional to anything.
Clearly you don't understand the US sales tax system. In the US there is no national general purpose sales tax, so the state sales tax would not be additional to anything.
No. He's correct. DS never said "in addition to", simply that:
if I understand the US sales tax system correctly, then the bookseller has to add the sales tax for such customers living in states with an additional sales tax.
That's 'add the sales tax' to the purchase price, not any existing Federal tax.
But in the end, this whole discussion was settled years ago when Amazon belatedly decided to comply with the decision (after trying to doge it for years). So why the hell are we arguing over established law (especially as we're readers and authors, and NOT international tax lawyers)?
That's 'add the sales tax' to the purchase price, not any existing Federal tax
That's inherent to what a 'sales tax' is, if you are correct as to what he meant, then the statement is redundant.
And Amazon cheated the European booksellers who had to apply their higher local VAT, by pricing books sold by Amazon with the low VAT of Luxemburg.
Makes sense. Thanks for clarifying that.
As to U.S. sales tax, there is no Federal sales tax. But states/counties determine what products will be taxed. So in one state there's a sales tax on clothing but not food. In another state it could be the reverse. In another state both will be taxed. And then there are city sales taxes added to it so if someone were to buy a car, they might go to the neighboring city which has a lower sales tax.
It used to be that to be charged a sales tax the selling company had to have a brick and mortar store in your state. So if I were to buy something mail order from Company A and that company didn't have a presence in my state I didn't pay sales tax. Before Nordstrom's had stores in Arizona, my wife and her friends used to take a weekend trip to San Diego to shop. If they took the items with them, they paid Calif/San Diego sales tax. If the items were shipped to their Arizona address, there was no sales tax.
And then the internet changed everything. States and cities wanted to collect sales tax from their residents so if you buy it online you still pay sales tax.
BTW, Arizona doesn't call it a sales tax. They call it a Transition Privilege Tax (TPT).
ETA: btw, there are federal taxes on products such as gasoline, cigarettes, and alcohol, but that's not a sales tax.
And then the internet changed everything.
Not really. There were repeated attempts to force mail order companies to collect state sales taxes long before the internet was a thing.
What changed is they finally managed to convince a federal judge that the technology existed to allow even small operations to cost effectively handle thousands (some states allow counties and even cities to tack on their own sales taxes) of different tax rates/rules.
That's more about computers and software on the back end than anything to do with the internet itself.
Cheating authors? - No
Cheating booksellers? - I don't see how.
You may not see how, but the EU courts held Amazon in violation of EU law, demanding not only that they cease, but pay back all the unpaid EU taxes. That sounds pretty definitive to me. Again, rather than negotiating with the EU as a whole, Amazon decided to offer a small country a huge volume in sales in exchange for extreme sales tax discounts. They agreed, but that doesn't make it legal.
And, no, that isn't socialism, it's the rules that each country agreed to abide to when they joined the EU. Like it or not, you can't join a union (of states) and then decide to make your own deals on the side. That's basic international law.
You guys can have the Zero Vat, can I have the Brandy Vat and its contents?
can I have the Brandy Vat and its contents?
Yes, but you'll have to pay tax and duty on it...and it comes with the St.Bernard who's neck it's hung round, so I hope you've got plenty of kibble in.
so I hope you've got plenty of kibble in.
Around here we call the silly green activists fertilizer or kibble as we can grind them up for either. Thus I should be good to care for the hound, but not sure I can afford the tax and duty.
I hope you've got plenty of kibble in.
St.Bernards don't eat kibble.. They enjoy munching on avalanche victims, which is how they are so easily trained to search for them.
Obviously they are usually persuaded not to start munching immediately upon finding them, it upsets the press and any relatives present.
:)
The traditional brandy barrel on their collar is because they consider victim sautéed in brandy to be a delicacy.
can I have the Brandy Vat and its contents?
Why would you want a woman already pregnant with someone else's baby?
Why would you want a woman already pregnant with someone else's baby?
Make the other guy pay a decent amount of child support so I get the benefits of the lady while he pays for the care and upkeep of the kid.