Enterprise Nation VAT MOSS Webinar

It is with great regret that I write this to inform those of you running a business in the European Union will be expected to comply with a new VAT law from January 1st 2015.

As you know the, value added tax in the UK is added at 20% on top of sale prices, but now we're expected to add VAT according to the where the buyer is based themselves. This means calculating the rate of tax on every single sale according to the country of origin within the EU and basically paying someone else's government.

I thought the cookie laws were the worst laws I'd ever seen but this is a new low.

The laws are being introduced as a means to reclaim VAT revenue from big businesses who exploit tax loopholes.

As usual, the small businesses are the ones getting shafted.

[url]http://www.theguardian.com/small-busi...[/url]

As a small business I am being asked to take on tax administration tasks which are virtually impossible.

Right now I feel sad and depressed. I've been working on a new website for over 12 months which I wanted to use as a selling platform, but these laws are more or less going to destroy that.

If you're selling eBooks independently, you'd might as well not bother, because you will be spending a massive amount of time bogged down in bureaucracy on all those downloads.

It is like spending thousands to make hundreds, if you do the maths on your time spent.

People who sell hundreds of eBooks a week cannot possibly do all of the admin of every sale.

What you can do is sell your wares via an online marketplace like Amazon and eBay, since they will take care of any tax duty.

You'll be subject to the usual selling fees though.

What I would like to do is stick my head in the sand and pretend not to know anything about all of this, but as you know, ignorance is a choice.

My only real option is to refuse to do business with anyone in the European Union, but the EU is supposed to exist to remove barriers to trade and make it easier for us to do business with other EU member states.

The laws apply if you're selling B2C (Business to Consumer.) That in itself presents a whole new set of challenges because you then need to work out if your customer is a "consumer" or "business" by the legal definition.

Some people have been asking if it is possible to just not do business with people in other EU member states, and just stick to the UK.

Bit that defeats the purpose of the EU as an easy trading zone.

Here's an infographic teaching what you need to do to register for the EU VAT:

[url]https://www.enterprisenation.com/blog...[/url]

PLEASE sign this petition if you're in the EU and operating as a small or medium enterprise:

[url]https://www.change.org/p/vince-cable-...[/url]

There is a forum discussion here on the subject...

[url]http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/thr...[/url]

Finally, thanks to Emily for the webinar hosted by Enterprise Nation.

You can download here sliders here: https://www.enterprisenation.com/syst...