From: "tim(not at home)" 
Newsgroups: uk.legal uk.finance
Subject: Re: Warning to Ebay buyers re import charges
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2006 20:07:30 +0800

On Fri, 09 Jun 2006 20:07:41 +0800, Chris Blunt
 wrote:

>On Fri, 09 Jun 2006 12:33:20 +0100, Peter Johnson
> wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 19:35:19 GMT, axel@white-eagle.invalid.uk wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>How do you work this out? VAT only requires to be charged in cases of x
>>>thousands of pounds being charged each year (fill in x with whatever the
>>>current amount is). US firms have no requirement to charge VAT... unless
>>>they have an EU presence... so that might be the case here.
>>>
>>
>>I don't (work it out). It is new(ish) EU rules dealing with imports.
>>It works the other way as well. Royal Mail, that I know of, is
>>registered for VAT with allEU countries so that when it sells postage
>>stamps to collectors it charges VAT at the appropriate local rate.
>
>I still don't see how the EU can impose or enforce tax rules on
>American companies doing business within the US.

I don't think it matters whether you can see it or not.

The fact is that they have and no-one has challenged the legality of
the rules.

I accept that enforcment is difficult but that's another matter.

> Most US companies are
>probably totally unaware of such rules,

Ignorance is no defence.  AIH the main players do know the rules are
there.

> or might just chose to ignore
>them anyway. Its hard enough for businesses to keep track of the
>various regulations they have to comply with in their own country, and
>virtually impossible for them to know about tax rules in every other
>country in the world.

That's a cost of choosing to do business in another country.  You have
two choices.  Don't do business in that country or suffer the overhead
of learning (and following) the rules.  personally I don't see that
having a physical presence in a country should change this and neither
does the EU.

tim


>
>Chris