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#1 |
Member
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VAT paid on eBooks in the EU, what do you pay?
I read today in the spanish language newspaper El País, that the VAT one must pay for e-books in Spain will (finally) be the highest one (16%, 18% from June 1st on). For those not fluent in Spanish, i'll summarize the story:
1) VAT for e-books has been 16%. 2) Publishers and budding e-retailers complain: hey Mr. government, if VAT for p-books is 4%, wtf is it 16% for e-books? makes no sense to me. 3) Culture minister says in December that VAT for e-books will be 4%. hooray. fireworks. dancing in the streets. 4) Publishers get final response from tax (not culture) powers that be saying that books sold on on CD or USB sticks or other physical/digital format will pay 4% (you know, like Encarta, ups, no, wait, that is no longer published anymore) BUT that e-books sold over the Internet pay top 16% VAT. Always count on the taxman for bad news. Why? because this type of transactions are considered e-commerce, and according to some EU directive (article 98.2 of something from 2006) on electronic services, you can't charge the lowest VAT for such things. you know, electronic, baaad. (mumble, mumble) but if i buy that same ePub file in, say, a SD card, i pay 4%? crazy. So i'd like to check, if that's so in the rest of the EU. i've never bought an e-book from an EU-based e-retailer, only from amazon.com, so i don't know what VAT they charge. Anyone who has bought e-books in Europe can confirm or deny that European ban on low taxes on e-books? By the way. When i buy a paper book from amazon.co.uk i am charged 4% VAT. i guess that, buying a "real" book over the Internet is not e-commerce ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Last edited by raulf; 04-13-2010 at 08:20 AM. |
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#2 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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#3 |
Country Member
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Location: Denmark
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Same in the UK. Books are zero rated for VAT, but ebooks are standard rate -17.5%.
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#4 |
eBook Enthusiast
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The EU's eCommerce VAT directive requires that all "downloaded data" be charged at the standard (ie highest) rate of VAT in each country. It was originally intended to apply to music downloads - eBooks just got caught up in it.
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#5 |
frumious Bandersnatch
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If I were a retailer I would offer:
1) Buy a CD with your books in it. You get low VAT and no geographic restrictions. 2) Shipping is optional, I can keep the CD for you. 3) There would be a free service where you can download the contents of the CDs you own. This would be subject to VAT, but x% of free is still free ![]() |
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#6 | |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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#7 |
Feral Underclass
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#8 |
Wizard
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There's no special low tax rate on books in Denmark, so it would be the same rate as on everything else.
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#9 | |
Wizard
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In other words, they're one step ahead of you. |
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#10 |
frumious Bandersnatch
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But they are different products. I sell CDs and offer a separate free service.
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#11 | |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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This was, of course, this was before books on CD were allowed to be zero rated. No - a good idea, but Mike L's right, HMRC are there before you - I'd just forgotten. |
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#12 |
frumious Bandersnatch
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#13 |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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Location: Norfolk, England
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Hmm... so you offer a data hosting service, allowing people to send you data on CDs that they can then download only from their login at your web site. And you also sell ebooks on CD, which you offer to host as well.
That might just squeak by... but IANAL. |
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#14 |
Zealot
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We in Lithuania have 21% VAT on paper and e-books. Try to bit that!
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#15 |
Chocolate Grasshopper ...
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