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VAT - Tax collection for the E.U. |
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Believe me, I do not WANT to charge my
European customers V.A.T. (Value Added Tax). This situation was FORCED upon me by the order-taking services I am using.
It seems the European Union realized how much tax money they were losing
when their citizens purchase software and other products
from the United States of America over the Internet. In the summer
of 2003, the E.U. threatened U.S. companies into collecting VAT for them, saying that if those companies ever want to open an office in Europe, they will then require
payment of all the
back taxes they have not collected for the E.U. over the years, before they will let them operate in Europe.
This can amount to millions of dollars for larger companies. Most of the software ordering services I use, such as Reg.Net, RegSoft, DigiBuy and others agreed, and are now collecting VAT from European customers and submitting these payments to the E.U. This has hurt my sales, but I have no choice in the matter. I am not collecting the VAT. I never see this money. These order-taking companies are all registered with the E.U. tax authorities and collecting the tax for them. I hate how they submitted to this pressure from a foreign government, but I cannot find a company to take orders for me that is NOT doing this. They all feel this is the "responsible" thing to do.
Sane Soft, LLC |