Friday 15 May 2015

Are the #EU listening to low-turnover businesses? Possibly!

I've feeling more hopeful tonight than I have been in months since I discovered the idiocy that is #EU #VAT #VATMOSS. This is where sellers of digital products within or into the EU have been required, since 1st Jan 2015, to register, charge and account to HMRC or another EU member state, the VAT on cross-border sales, even when the seller is below the VAT registration threshold in their own country, and thus not liable for VAT on domestic sales.

Tonight I have watched a video posted by Julia Reda, who is an MEP from Germany, who asked Digital Commissioner and EU Commission VP Andrus Ansip if help would be forthcoming for the businesses that are being damaged by the scheme, and if the EU would consider introducing a threshold below which cross-border sales would be exempt.  Julia suggested a turnover level of €100,000 pa.

Commissioner Ansip appears to agree with her!

It is now up to the EU's meetings, which are scheduled for next week (Mon & Tues) to decide to support or oppose the proposal.  Initially this was seen as being a problem which only affected us Brits, but thanks to the sterling work done by the EU VAT ACTION Campaign over the last 6 months, it is now clear that it is affecting people throughout Europe and beyond. That is a consequence that the EU certainly had not anticipated!

The video is well-worth watching!

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