Intro
There has been a lot of ranting about the new EU’s new VAT MOSS law, as it threatens so many small businesses around the world, here are a few tweets on the subject:
@cassieldotcom
I was thinking of starting a little digital business, but it looks as if new #EUVAT rules would kill it stone dead@shosakauk
Just received email from @ComicsyUK regarding changes to the #VATMOSS situation. *sigh* There goes my business expansion to Europe – #EUVAT@TopFloorT
The new #EUVAT rules are coming http://euvataction.org/ On Dec.31, I may be forced to close my business or break the law. Very worrying!@OrfulComics
Looking like I’ll be closing part of my business in Jan. New #EUVAT means it’s no longer feasible. Thanks! #VATMOSS #VATMESS
The people complaining have good reason to complain, however complaining won’t solve anything and neither will shutting down your business. In this blog post we will explain what EU VAT is and what you as a business can do about it.
What is EU VAT?
In short, EU VAT is a nightmare or a huge amount of admin for any small business planning on selling digital goods anywhere in Europe. Before now VAT was charged based on the sellers location, however, now VAT will be collected by the EU based on the buyers location.
This means if you’re a small business in the US, and you sell online goods on your website, you’re supposed to file EU VAT fees in the designated country. You will have to figure out where each online shopper is to file taxes for the correct country (because yes every EU country has a different tax rate, enjoy!)
This is all the business owners responsibility (hence the huge amount of admin work), this is an unfair law which attacks small businesses and is bound to have a negative effect on Europe trading.
