Support Network for VAT Victims?

I wish my SL came to £20 per month too - but everyone has to cut their cloth to suit their budget.

Thanks for all the kind thoughts - but even if there was an alternative to SL, EU residents would still have to pay VAT. The pain came with the realisation that VAT was applicable, it had not been included and the complete lack of notice in adding it. LL have rectified that and given an explanation and 30 days notice now - so people have a little time to decide what they want to do. I expect many will tier down, or go to basic accounts - it is up to individuals to decide what they can and can't afford. If you want to help - then buy products in SL from EU creators and help them keep their SL businesses going - so long as you stick within you own budgetary constraints and don't spend more than you can afford.

You know...I'm not European and don't deal with the VAT tax, but when LL moved billing to the UK all of a sudden I have to give permission to my bank EVERY MONTH to accept the charges from LL because the bank that does the billing now is on their high fraud list...soooo....move billing back to the US and loose the VAT tax and everyone is happy

Is that a recent map of the world you're using?

Well said.

Actually I didn't mean to belittle people's budget ... more the difference involved. I know people who have been hit HARD by all this, they are finding ways to cope. I personally, were I not fortunate enough to have bought land from a non-EU estate owner, would be looking at nearly 40$ extra a month - which is not much but it is the same as my mainland tier.

If you want to help out, show your support by buying Euro. HOWEVER ... who is then going to look after all the other people in SL?

I think the main thing is that it is time to no longer expect to make money out of SL, other than to maybe offset your playing costs. If your playing costs are too much then you do have to downsize your SL. It's very sad to lose people you have grown to care for ... but no one has to leave unless they want to and people have always done that.

Geographically that is correct, we are on the European continent.

Ah, except for the government which the people voted in. The reason England (and the rest of the UK) has VAT is because it is a member of the European Union. It takes part in European events (like the dreaded Song Contest) and has done for decades.

While I know that there is a substantial population of the UK that would rather not be in Europe and don't think of themselves as a part of Europe, geography and the elected government think differently.

And the Wikipedia page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe might need some tweaking, too.

Look, I was born in England. I understand the feeling that the UK needs to stay separate from the continent, and the feeling of a lot of brits that they are not "Europeans", but that is just a feeling, and VAT is a sad reality.....

"Fog over the channel, Europe cut off" (London newspaper headline)

/me points out "Devil's Advocate" ...

You're preaching to the converted here sweetheart.

***edit*** OK I am offended. Dreaded? Dreadful?

The Eurovision is the funniest comedy event every year, if you live in the UK and get to hear Terry Wogan's take on the whole thing. It's hysterical! Shame the UK entry is invariably so bad but then you have the fun of willing us to get no points.

Right that is it ... the next one, I *am* organising a Eurovision party where everyone must be watching!! If there's a way to stream it into SL then I will bloody well do that too!!! LMAO

Or technically off the coast of Europe...

The nationality question is interesting for the UK. Using the passport test, one would suggest that the nationality would be "United Kingdom", but in reality the UK is a few nations united under a common crown. Still, I would have to think that most other countries would consider the UK to have one "nationality" and not four.

On the VAT issue, everyone has their own pain threshold, of course. I agree that if it is too much then you have to downsize. I think with the general sales slump many are reporting, together with the VAT and gambling hits, many people will be sizing down now because unless you can generate Lindens to offset your costs, SL is otherwise just way too expensive when compared with other online entertainment options.

I'm still chucking money into the pot here ... and sales going down, surely, is because there are more and more people joining every day who can make things and so there's more and more competition.

Friends of mine have joined and already (because of what they do rl) can spin SL round their little fingers within a week. They complain cos the tools are all "backwards" to people used to working in professional 3D modelling ... but they can knock stuff out right away. And, if you can buy something new and shiny or the same stuff which has been around forever ... whatcha gonna do?

Adapt, adopt, improve ... or go under.

Hey I haven't seen the song contest in YEARS - if you find a way to stream it into SL, I will be SOOO there! LOL

Well all of that is true for existing sellers, and I think explains some of what is happening out there. I think that this is exacerbated by the reality that many people come to SL without any 3d modeling or photoshop background, and without any inclination to learn those programs to support their online entertainment habits. For these people, it's an entertainment option, and they have a certain budget to spend on that. With increased costs, even a smaller hobbyist user might decide that the increase from 25 Euros and 32 Euros they are paying for their beach house each month is enough to justify downsizing their holdings, or dropping them altogether.

SL is markedly expensive, for a free "game". That is, if you want to have some place to call your own (which most users do at some poing) it goes from being free to being considerably pricier than other online entertainment media. I mean a 4096 rental (even leaving land ownership aside) can be 2000-2200 per week, which is around USD 30-32 per month -- about *twice* what other "games" charge for their services. So when that jumps by 17-25%, depending on your country, you're going to see at least some people saying "enough" and downsizing to save money.

/me looks at my 54K I pay in island tier and says about the Temple ... use it or lose it cos altruism to the community only takes me so far!

Count me in Cherry - I wouldn't miss that one for the (second) life of me!

As an aside on the VAT business - I wrote to my MEP to ask him about the UK Government's stance when the e-Commerce VAT regulations come up for discussion again. I wrote the same day as I raised a support call to LL to explain what was happening. LL have taken action. They have given an explanation of the situation. They have moved the implementation date forward by 1 month...AND they have refunded the VAT they charged me on September 27. Needless to say, I am still waiting for a reply from my MEP. :-|

So am I!

VAT "victims"? it's a European tax, not an attack.