My replies to Money Box piece in Tweets

This is the series of tweets I sent from my business Twitter account after today's Money Box programme about the #EU #VATMOSS #VATMESS.

@vanessamock is the EU spokesperson on the programme, and @paullewismoney is the twitter contact given on the BBC's Money Box contact page.

From @AstarteWebDes
@vanessamock @paullewismoney 1. Digital sales #VAT change was suggested 6 yrs ago & internet marketplace has changed a lot since! #VATMESS

From @AstarteWebDes
@vanessamock @paullewismoney 2. Hardly any small digital biz were selling online from their own sites 6 years ago!

From @AstarteWebDes
@vanessamock @paullewismoney 3. Saying there is a "problem with the UK" + new VAT rules implies just UK biz whingeing, this is NOT true!

From @AstarteWebDes
@vanessamock @paullewismoney 4. EU will do nothing till Sept. 2015 which is too late for some biz who have already stopped trading. #vatmess

From @AstarteWebDes
@vanessamock @paullewismoney 5. Needs an immediate suspension of new rules whilst EU does its stuff. UK Govt can do this for us but will it?

From @AstarteWebDes
@vanessamock @paullewismoney 6. Unless #VATMESS is fixed fast there will be more casualties. Digital Single Marketplace needs this to work!

We need an Emergency Interim EU VAT Suspension from UK Gov't!

At last week's EU meetings it was made very clear that there would be no immediate help coming from the EU for low-turnover businesses being hit by the new EU VAT rules on cross-border digital sales.

Despite accepting that there has been unfortunate and unforeseen consequences for low-turnover businesses, and that something needs to be done to put things right, the EU mandarins have said it is not going to be considered until the end of the Summer, 2015, at the soonest, and no action will be forthcoming until 2016 at the very earliest.

FOR MANY BUSINESSES THAT IS SIMPLY TOO LATE!

Already businesses are struggling and failing to comply with the evidence requirements for cross-border sales. Add another year to the mix and many more will have closed their doors or stopped digital sales totally.

We have been told that there is something that the UK government can do to help, but we need YOUR help to make it happen.

It is called an Emergency Interim EU VAT Suspension, which basically means the UK government agree to suspend the new rules until such a time that the EU gets its act in order and provides a permanent fix for the mess it has made for micro-businesses.

What we need is for everyone to write to their own MP - you can use this site https://www.writetothem.com/ to contact them by email if it is easier than emailing them directly - and ask your MP to demand an Emergency Interim EU VAT Suspension on behalf of the thousands of small UK businesses that are suffering under this scheme.

Also, if you are a member of a Trade Association, please ask that they lobby the government for the same suspension. The EU VAT Action campaign has this to say about who to lobby and how,

If you are a member of any kind of trade of business association, please write to their Chair today to ask them to support the call for an immediate interim ESC to remove the burden of these rules from micro businesses. Please ask them to contact:

• PM David Cameron
• David Gauke (Financial Secretary to the Treasury, who would have to propose this legislation)
• and Jim Harra (HMRC Director General of Business Tax, who would need to propose this to David Gauke).

Please copy your request to your MP and ask them also to lobby David Cameron, David Gauke and Jim Harra.

Please also ask your industry body to contact any colleagues they have in other industry organisations and trade bodies, to urge them to do the same.

The more people who raise the issue with their MPs the better the chance we have of getting the Emergency Interim EU VAT Suspension, so please do this and help the thousands of us who are struggling to comply with the unintended consequences of this unfortunate EU legislation.

More details can also be found on the EU VAT Action website here .

Hilary Clinton championing small businesses in her USA presidential bid

Who would have thought I could get to speak to Hilary Clinton on EU VAT? :) 

Well not actually SPEAK... but Hilary has joined LinkedIn as part of her presidential campaign, as she wants to connect with small businesses in the USA.

And she has written her first post today outlining how she wants to make the burden of tax and admin easier for small businesses, and so I have added a reply pointing out the detrimental effect that the EU VAT rules are having on American businesses trying to sell into Europe.

If anyone else on LinkedIn wants to add comments to the post it strikes me as a good way to raise the issue's profile in the USA.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/four-ways-jump-start-small-business-hillary-clinton

Once again the #EU Commission proves it does not care about small biz!

Once again the ‪#‎EU‬ Commission has let small businesses down. Once more the ‪#‎VATMESS‬ that is ‪#‎VATMOSS‬ looks set to destroy all cross-border sales for small businesses.

Today the #EU Commission had the chance to prove it cares about low-turnover businesses as well as the global conglomerates and once again it has failed to do so, despite the best efforts of a number of supportive MEPs.

#EU Commission, I and others are disgusted with you.

If you cannot help us stay in business, we have no business staying in the #EU.

http://euvataction.org/2015/05/18/too-little-too-late-euvat-offer-from-eu-vp-andrus-ansip/

How the new #EU #VAT rules are hurting buyers!

The new #EU #VAT cross-border digital sales rules don't just affect sellers, they hit buyers too, as if we have to charge VAT you have to pay more when you buy from us! That's no fun, is it?!

But it's even less fun when you realise that these rules are going to be extended to cover sales of anything that goes from one EU country to another, or from one non-EU country into the EU. Are you listening yet America? Canada? Australia? New Zealand? Japan? China? Rest of the world?

Low-turnover businesses have been covered by their home country's VAT threshold until 31.12.2014, and still are for sales they make within their home country, but get caught up in the VAT rules when they sell outside their home country, even if the item is a penny!

OK so what will happen if those digital sellers at the low-turnover end of the marketplace stop selling online? Will it affect you? You may think not, but you'd be so wrong!

Do you buy music from indie bands?
Do you buy apps for your smartphone?
Do you buy games or modifications for games for your computer?
Do you buy software?
Do you buy patterns for your knitting, crochet, craftwork?
Do you buy images for use in your projects?
Do you buy ringtones for your mobile phone?
Do you subscribe to a specialist digital magazine?
Do you buy ebooks from indie authors?
Do you undertake online courses to learn a new skill or hobby?

If you said yes to any of those questions then you are affected by this issue.

Juliet McKenna of the EU VAT Action team has been looking into the issue, after the team undertook a survey of more than 2,000 small traders whoc supply exactly the sorts of digital products I listed above. Her findings are worrying. Here is what she says,

If there’s a big company behind your chosen product, they’ll probably be able to cope. It’ll be a hassle for them, no doubt about it, but they have the resources.

If that business is run by just one person, working on their own? Then it’s unlikely they’ll be able to handle the new rules. Just how many of those resources come under the heading of “automated digital services”. In other words, they’re all now subject to the new rules requiring whoever’s offering them to charge the correct VAT rate where you live.

The administrative burden of trying to figure out, with up to 3 pieces of information, where your customer is and the choosing the correct rate from the EU’s 81 options is enormous. Most small businesses do not have the means to do this.

The people who create these amazing resources, unless they’re a big business with tech support, are more likely to close or to block your country than to be able to comply with the new EU VAT rules.  Here is the link to the full article.

Ahhhh, you say, but I don't buy things I get mine for free...  maybe you do, but not for much longer!  Your "free" product is actually paid for by the advertising revenue that is made by the site from which it is sold, or via ads within the product itself (those ads you see in apps are a prime example).  That advertising revenue now comes under the EU VAT rules so the seller has to register for VAT, and has to account for the VAT on the revenue and pay it to the relevant tax authority.  So what?! you might say... well here's what...  that all takes time to do, it costs money to do, as managing VAT returns means higher accountant's fees, it means registering as a data controller, and a host of other hassles that go with it and take up your time - and as we all know, time = money in a business! 

So, if you believe in a free marketplace where you can buy your digital products you really do need to take notice of what's happening with the EU VAT rules.  The answer is not to pull out of the EU, but rather to shout loudly to your MEPs that the EU has got it wrong. If enough of us shout they might listen.  If we don't shout, then we will all just be shopping for the same old things at Amazon and eBay in the future!

Are the #EU #VAT rules discriminating against low turnover businesses in the marketplace?

Juliet McKenna of the EU VAT Action Campaign say they are discriminatory, not just against small businesses, but also against people who are unable to be in paid work for a host of reasons. Juliet says,

New digital technologies and business opportunities are proving invaluable for those working from home for a whole range of reasons. People who specifically benefit from being able to work at home include those with autism, agoraphobia, depression, social anxiety, long-term physical illnesses, and mobility issues. Such people can and do run successful businesses because they’re able to work on their own terms and for the hours that suit them, using IT and the internet. Many are otherwise unable to work.

The EU claims it is anti-discrimination yet here we have its own rules which are discriminating against a significant sector of the population. The only way for the EU to achieve its aim of a free market place and a truly level playing field for businesses is to remove the barriers it has put in place that are causing the suffering and demise of so many low-turnover businesses.

Even not-for-profit ventures such as the planned Science Fiction Foundation's Terry Pratchett ebook has fallen victim to the problem of #VATMOSS. As Juliet says,

Any small charity wishing to publish specialist books for a target audience will find themselves in the same position, with the same unpalatable choices.

The EU was never intended to cause such havoc, nor to put in place so many obstacles to free trade. The time has come for the EU to accept that it is failing in what it tried to achieve and rescind the existing rules for low-turnover businesses whilst there are still some of them trading that can be saved.

The alternative is truly scary: all online sales will only be via 3rd party marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Folksy, ETSY, etc... and many of the choices offered by independent sellers will have gone for good!

Juliet's article may be read in full on the EU VAT Action website here:
http://euvataction.org/2015/05/15/these-eu-digital-vat-rules-mean-discrimination-from-local-to-global/

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!

You can't hack the #EU #VAT problem with a grand in an afternoon!

Tech solutions are not the way to deal with poorly thought out #EU #VAT rules on cross-border sales that are hurting low turnover businesses. #vatmoss is still a #vatmess and is coming to all cross-border sales soon, not just digital as now.

Don't think that this isn't your problem, as if you sell anything outside of the UK it will be your problem soon. Even if you are currently below the UK VAT registration threshold. There will be NO THRESHOLD on cross-border sales unless we fight for one now!

Read the latest article on the ongoing #VATMOSS is a #VATMESS saga on the EU VAT ACTION web site, " Why The Hope For An EU VAT ‘Simple Tech Solution’ Has Become The Emperor’s New Clothes – And Time Is Running Out To Save Micro Businesses"
http://euvataction.org/2015/05/14/eu-vat-tech-solution-hackathon/

EU VAT needs a sensible threshold, here's why...

How much help would a €100,000 EU digital VAT threshold actually offer? Juliet McKenna explains what the costs are of compliance with the EU VAT regulations for digital sellers, why a threshold is needed and why it needs to be at a sensible level!

http://euvataction.org/2015/05/11/how-much-help-would-a-e100000-eu-digital-vat-threshold-actually-offer/

EU VAT action is STILL on our menus!

The EU VAT issue for digital small/micro/nano businesses has not gone away.  Juliet McKenna explains why 3rd party marketplaces are not the answer and why low turnover businesses need the support of a sensible cross-border VAT threshhold, to allow them to survive and grow, and compete with the big-boys on a level playing field,

http://euvataction.org/2015/05/13/eu-vat-and-third-party-marketplace-myths/

Why MPs should care about the impact of the new EU VAT rules

Short answer: because 2015 is an election year!

Long answer: We are already being bombarded with candidate flyers, despite being 3 months away from the day, but this made me think about MPs and how (or even if!) they take on board the worries of their constituents, especially if those concerns are at odds with the policies of the MPs political party.

I should say that whenever I have raised an issue with my MP (the LibDem's Tim Farron, Westmorland and Lonsdale ) he has always listened to what I had to say and raised the issue with the relevant dept. or minister on my behalf, so I have no complaints there. It was more an idle wondering, in the wake of the template letters in response to constituents writing to MPs about the EU VAT issue I wrote about yesterday,  as to whether MPs as a whole have really thought about the effect the new EU VAT rules are having, and what this means in terms of the social impact on the country.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that Britain will come to its knees because small businesses and sole traders have to register for VAT. What I am saying is that there are a lot of people who make a small but adequate income from doing what they do, whether it be selling mp3's of their music, downloadable ebooks, online magazines, creating apps for phones, writing software, doing a bit of website hosting or selling advert space on one to help defray the cost of their own website, licencing photos or graphics for use by others, or even creating patterns for crafters. Those folks may be full-time students earning a bit to help them through uni, they may be parents with young children to look after, they may be carers for elderly or disabled family members, they may be retired and doing something which helps out with the pension, or simply be using their skills to create a product that will never have a big demand but which fills a small niche market.

For whatever reason they are selling digital goods and services online, they are earning a small income, and for many of them that income may be the difference between not claiming benefits and being forced to do so to get by. 

So, if small digital product sellers are being forced out of business by the lack of a sensible threshold for cross-border sales, the country loses out. It loses people who are working and earning, and instead gains people who need to claim financial support benefits. Surely that cannot be a good thing for the UK?  The cost to the country of a population on benefits is surely much greater than the revenue that  would be lost by allowing a sensible cross-border sales threshold for VAT.

Over the past decade or so there has been a lot of encouragement for individuals to start their own businesses. We are told that the digital economy is growing. More and more shopping is being done online. A whole raft of public services are online. We have been encouraged to get online and do all sorts of stuff, and as a country we have done just that, with 89.90% of us with internet access. The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (.pdf, 482kb) state that there are 4.6 million self-employed and sole traders in the UK. If even 10% of them are selling digital products (and the bottom line is, we simply don't know how many are yet!) that means almost half a million traders are affected by these awful, unworkable new rules. .

So we now have a whole sector of the business population who are being walloped by the EU or put out of business for doing just what our government has encouraged us to do. It's just plain wrong!.

Further reading: Heather Burns writes about web design law, strategy, and what matters to the profession https://idea15.wordpress.com/2014/11/24/how-vatmoss-is-the-end-of-small-enterprise-in-britain-and-how-we-can-change-it/

How level is a level playing field? Internet giants v. sole traders

One of the things I have noticed during the last few weeks, from the number of people who have written to their MP raising the issue of the new EU VAT rules on cross-border digital product sales, is that all seem to be getting a pretty much standard template letter back. The letter states that the changes are good for the UK and will help provide a level playing field for businesses within Europe.

That, you might think, is a GOOD THING, and I'd agree, except that it isn't true!  Let me put it another way: "How does a sole trader whose cross-border sales may total a few hundred pounds a year effectively compete with an internet giant?"

Let me explain...   

Sole trader: 
Before the change... works from home, does accounts on own computer using spreadsheet software and files an annual self employed tax return. Has a website built using either an open source or a commercial install-it-yourself website/shopping cart and uses PayPal as a payment handler. Dead simple, easy to manage.

After the change... works from home, does accounts on own computer using spreadsheet software and files an annual self employed tax return. Has a website built using either an open source or a commercial install-it-yourself website/shopping cart and uses PayPal as a payment handler.Has had to register for VAT MOSS to account for VAT on cross-border sales. Has had to figure out if his/her existing website/shopping cart software can handle the new requirements of determining which country a potential buyer is from by producing 2 pieces of evidence from the list of those acceptable and displaying the price including the relevant VAT rate for the potential buyer's country, and then input all the details required to show 75 different rates of VAT covering the 28 countries of the EU, and then keep all the transaction data safe for a minimum 10 years from the date of sale.  Not so easy now is it?

Internet giant: 
Before the change... employs a whole army of people to provide a 3rd party marketplace sales platform, employs accountants and tax advisors to ensure they are using the system to their best advantage and are compliant with the requirements. Has the financial resources to provide a complex system for establishing the location of the buyer, calculating and charging VAT on sales based on that location, and to handle all the accounting for and payment of said VAT to each EU country afterwards. Has the resources to ensure the safe and secure retention of the sales data for the required minimum of 10 years.

After the change...  employs a whole army of people to provide a 3rd party marketplace sales platform, employs accountants and tax advisors to ensure they are using the system to their best advantage and are compliant with the requirements. Has the financial resources to provide a complex system for establishing the location of the buyer, calculating and charging VAT on sales based on that location, and to handle all the accounting for and payment of said VAT to each EU country afterwards. Has the resources to ensure the safe and secure retention of the sales data for the required minimum of 10 years. Did you see any difference?

How is that a level playing field???

Small digital businesses asking for your help!

The online petition is asking for the suspension of the new EU VAT rules that are killing small digital businesses. Often these are stay-at-home mums earning small sums online, or youngsters just setting out into the world of app and software and game design, or indie musicians and authors who are just trying to earn some money from what they do without having to get involved with big corps. and agents who cream off much of the profit and pay a pittanace to the artist or author.  Please will you sign it and share on?

Petitioning Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs PIERRE MOSCOVICI: https://www.change.org/p/pierre-moscovici-a-unilateral-suspension-of-the-introduction-of-the-new-eu-vat-laws-for-micro-businesses-and-sole-traders

A letter from HMRC in the post today...

A rattle of the letterbox and a long brown envelope dropped onto the doormat. Hubbie picked it up and plonked it on my desk, face up. Bold black capitals on the front pronounced it PRIVATE.

 "It looks official!" I thought, wondering if it was a ticking off for publicly telling HMRC that I don't like the new EU VATMOSS scheme or a letter to say that the HMRC mainframe had eaten my Tax Return and adjudged I owed them £3m in unpaid tax!

Turning it over I saw it was from the NI Contributions Office at Newcastle upon Tyne, and was amused to read to notice printed on the back of the envelope, "HMRC changed banks in April 2009. The old accounts will be closing in 2010. To check you are using the correct account go to www.hmrc.gov.uk/bankaccounts."  

Just for the heck of it, I typed the URL into Firefox and went to have a look. It seems the page has moved, but there is an auto-redirect, which is nice. It now goes to https://www.gov.uk/dealing-with-hmrc/paying-hmrc, where you can find a page called Paying HMRC - with a handy dandy list of links to all the sorts of things you might want (or not want!) to pay them for.  Neat huh?

Anyhow, giggling over the fact that it's now 2015 and the message related to something back in 2009 - 2010 - yes, I know I should appreciate the fact that they are still using up old envelope stock and had not just binned the lot once 2010 had come and gone - I thought that I had better read the letter inside it.

"Probably telling me that NI rates are going up in April," I surmised, but no, I was wrong! The letter, which incidentally was dated 12th December 2014 (is the post really so slow these days?!) stated, "Plans to simplify the way you pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions."

My heart sank! In my experience anything that claims to simplify things usually ends up making it more complicated.  As Woodie Guthrie said, "Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple.”  I'm not sure how many geniuses there are working for HMRC, but I must say that I cannot see how the new scheme will make things simpler for me!

Currently I pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions by a monthly Direct Debit. I'm self employed and my income varies depending on what work I am doing and when. The current DD takes £11 and £13.75 alternately. The letter tells me it will cease after the July 2015 payment.  After that I will be expected to pay my Class 2 contributions along with any Income Tax and Class 4 contributions. My variable income can handle a small DD each month quite well, but if I have to pay a lump sum once per year then it means I have to remember to put extra money aside for that. I presume it also means I would be fined by HMRC if I was late paying it, as late Income Tax payers currently are.

Feeling very fed up about the change, which has come hard on the heels of last month's EU VAT changes for cross-border sales which scuppered for the time-being a whole set of new digital products planned for this year, I read on.

The letter says, "If your Self Assessment payments are up to date, and you would prefer to spread the cost of your tax and National Insurance contributions, there will be an option to set up a Budget Payment Plan. We will provide more details on how to do this close to the time."

So, if I can set up a budget plan (presumably with monthly payments) why can't I just carry on paying by monthly DD as I do now???

Given that the letter I have been sent was dated 12th December 2014 and reached me on 14th February 2015, I don't expect to hear from them again about the Budget Plan until the middle of 2016!

Is the EU helping or hindering digital companies in Europe?

I have been reading with interest the blog by the EU Vice President, Andrus Ansip, whose aim is stated as "Helping our dynamic digital companies to make the best of Europe" and who seems to be in charge of bringing to fruition the EU dream of the Digital Single Market. To be fair, I quite like the idea of a Digital Single Market too, and I should so love to be a part of it but, alas, I cannot be. 

"Why not?" I hear you ask... my reply is, Red Tape.  

Now Mr Ansip...  (a worrying thought: should I call him Mr, or does he have another title?) ... Mr Ansip has stated that he wants to see Red Tape reduced. That's nice, isn't it? Thank you Mr Ansip, I should like less Red Tape too: it's all about letting businesses get on with doing their biz,  without getting tied up in miles (or as we're talking Europe, kilometres) of the pesky stuff.  Anyhow, he said,  "We should help by cutting red tape for entrepreneurs and smaller companies when they are trying to innovate, with easier set-up, registration and cross-border business rules."

Doesn't that sound good?  I'm all in favour of making it easier for smaller businesses like mine to get going, and sell outside the UK.  I'd love to do it. I want to be an entrepreneur. I'm even trying to learn enough words in other European languages to be able to at least communicate in writing with potential buyers, even if I do have to fall back on Google Translate for the tricky bits!

But I have a problem...  and it's that horrid Red Tape! Specifically, it's that the EU's newly introduced (1st Jan 2015)  VAT rules on electronically supplied cross-border sales are unworkable for me. My shopping cart software can't handle the requirements of multiple prices based on finding out where the potential client is. It can't handle the complexities of zones within countries which have variant VAT rates.  It can't handle establishing the evidence of where the potential buyer actually is before they buy!  It's a simple shopping cart using PayPal as its payment handler, I don't see or retain the buyer's financial details, I don't have their address, I shouldn't even need their real name! My buyer expects to come along, give me an email address, make a PayPal payment, download the product and off they go. Simple! 

Not any more it isn't... now my poor potential buyer is faced with the internet equivalent of the Spanish Inquisition (sorry Spain, nothing personal, I love you really!)  My buyer is made to feel s/he is doing something wrong simply by trying to buy something electronically from me!  The sort of questions the cart is supposed to find the answers to are these...

• Who are you?
• Where do you live? [evidence]
• What's the IP address of your computer / laptop / tablet / smartphone? [evidence]
• What are your bank details? [evidence]
• What country is your phone SIM from? (if using a mobile phone for a purchase) [evidence]
• What is the phone number you are connecting to the internet from?  [evidence]

Having to obtain that information is such a worry. Does anyone else see a problem with this?  

• How about privacy of the buyer? 
• How about data security? 
• How about identity theft?

Europe has some pretty strong data protection laws which are meant to protect our privacy, yet here we are, expected to ride the proverbial coach and horses through those laws to charge EU VAT. It seems to me that the EU left hand has no clue what the EU right hand is doing!

Anyhow, back to that Red Tape, which nice Mr Ansip doesn't like and is trying to save me from,  it now seems to be trying to loop itself around my ankles, tie my knees together, then snake itself all round my body and tie my arms to my sides, until it gets to my neck where it is threatening to pull itself into a very tight knot! 

If like me, you feel that the EU's actions seem to be at odds with its intentions, please would you tell that nice Mr Ansip?  His blog accepts comments, I've left mine (it's awaiting moderation) but I have faith that it will appear soon.  The more of us who point out that we have problems the better the chance of getting some help and changes from the EU. Preferably before that Red Tape kills me, and others like me, off completely!  Here's the link to make it easy to comment: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/2014-2019/ansip/blog/talent-drive-innovation-making-most-europes-tech-startup-potential_en

Help Us Alert the OECD to the EU Digital VAT Catastrophe

I'm sharing the information below which I received from EU VAT Action Campaign's Juliet McKenna (with their consent) in the hope that readers will help alert the OECD to the EU VAT disaster which is hurting and even killing small digital businesses. Please help if you can and share this post on.

Alert the OECD to the EU Digital VAT Catastrophe

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) promotes policies to improve economic and social well-being around the world. It provides a forum for governments to work together and share experiences and seek solutions to common problems arising from economic, social and environmental change. They also look at issues like how much people pay in taxes and how this affects business.

At the moment, they are looking at international VAT/GST guidelines on place of taxation for business-to-consumer supplies of services and intangibles. That’s ‘Value Added Tax’ or ‘Goods and Services Tax’ depending on where you live, equivalent to US sales taxes added at the time of purchase. Intangibles means digital products and services.

This is a hugely important opportunity for everyone to voice concerns over the ways in which start-ups and small businesses are being wrecked by the new EU regulations on VAT payable on cross-border digital sales.

It is particularly significant for those in OECD member countries outside the EU such as the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. This is the best way to make your voice heard on this matter.

Getting as many responses as possible is vital. These regulations have been devised with the biggest companies in mind. The OECD needs to know the destructive consequences for smaller enterprises and the damage that will do to grassroots economies around the world.

There is currently a Discussion Draft for Public Consultation available here.
http://www.oecd.org/ctp/consumption/discussion-draft-oecd-international-vat-gst-guidelines.pdf
 
We need as many people as possible to comment on this document by 20th February 2015.
You need only send two or at most three pages. The more focused your submission is, the better and please use your own words as far as possible. The more individual you make your argument, the more weight it will have.

Having researched previous similar consultations, this is the format we would use:

1. A brief statement of who you are and the reasons for your interest in the implementation of the 2015 EU VAT changes to electronic B2C services.

2. General comments on the problems with EU digital VAT, VATMOSS etc, briefly outlining your key concerns. Keep this section concise, just a couple of lines.

3. Specific issues for you, your business and your particular sector. For each point that you raise, make a direct reference / citation to a specific paragraph in the Discussion Draft (link above). Please cite the paragraph number.

If you find the prospect of searching through that document off-putting, please don’t! We have identified the key reference points for you in the detailed guidelines you can download from HERE as a Word document.

4. Conclusions/Suggestions. If you’re commenting as an individual, you need not include these. If you’re submitting on behalf of a group, you may or may not wish to include the EU VAT Action campaign’s stated aims. It’s entirely up to you.

Please prepare your response and submit it in Word format by e-mail to Piet Battiau, Head of Consumption Taxes Unit, OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration at piet.battiau@oecd.org.
Once you have sent your submission, please tweet to let us know and to help encourage other people to do the same. Please spread the word about this opportunity for positive action through your other business and social networks."

Tweets should be addressed to @euvataction and you can join in the campaign by following them here https://twitter.com/euvataction