The Anonymous Widower

The EU Gives The UK Another £300million A Year

I’m just reading the BBC’s prediction for tomorrow’s Budget. Under the section on VAT, there is this information.

The Budget should enact important changes to the payment of VAT on internet purchases and downloads.

Buyers, for instance of e-books, will now have to pay the VAT rate of their home country, not that of a retailer such as Amazon.

It charges just 3% VAT, the rate in its home territory – Luxembourg.

From 1 January 2015 it will have to charge UK purchasers the 20% British VAT rate – and then hand that money over to the UK government.

It will mean higher charges for some UK internet shoppers who use a foreign service, and it will raise about £300m more each year for the Treasury.

This is an EU-wide change affecting all 28 member countries and will remove the price advantage of some internet retailers based outside the UK.

So due to some EU legislation, you’ll pay more for e-books from Amazon, but then the VAT rules will be fairer and the government will get more tax revenue and hopefully allow UK companies to compete easier.

Is this the start of getting the big multi-nationals to pay their full moral level of taxes, like we plebs do?

I certainly hope so!

March 18, 2014 - Posted by AnonW | World | Europe, Tax