SL slightly cheaper for UK users from today

Yes, in the next budget.

Swings and roundabouts and what not.

Your Vat is based on which country you registered. Regardless of your CC payments coming from the UK if you registered in SL using your German address then German Mwst will apply @ 19%, if it was your UK address then UK VAT would apply.

I don't know if they can verify this through your IP Address as to which country you are actually accessing SL from, so if you're accessing it in Germany but paying UK VAT then I think you could be treading on thin ice.

That said, SL's charging of VAT is only a voluntary thing and I have no idea quite how they account for who's who and who's where.

As for the Original Post, that only works one way and thats Dollar to Pound, so for those fortunate enough to be withdrawing L$ back to Sterling it is a lot better, but for those that have to purchase Lindens to buy your stuff Phil using Pounds then its pretty damned expensive given what the exchange rate was 6 months ago.

Yes it is more expensive now than it was a few months ago, but it will still be slightly cheaper to buy from LL (tier, etc) as of Monday, when the VAT decreases, than it is today. Buying L$ will also be slightly cheaper, won't it?

Yep, slightly cheaper for Tier and Membership but buying Lindens(L$) I didn't think they incurred and VAT?

I don't know. I haven't bought any for the best part of 2 years.

Me to, thats why I asked and if you do then that sucks but still 2% cheaper.

I dont know about anyone else but the fall of the pound against the dollar has added a significantly large amount to my tier... thats why I keep asking to be able to pay in pounds instead of dollars... needless to say no response from lindens who were quick enough to add v.a.t. - the recent change in v.a.t will make a minimal difference.


On top of this no one appears to be buying land now either (unless of course the asking fee is a handful of jelly beans and a few old comic books)

God I really hope not.

Effectively Wales is treated as part of England, as it was effectively occupied during Norman times, and became an annexe of England.

It's voluntary? I didn't volunteer to pay it but I do...

Sorry it's compulsorary as far as LL is concerned.

I understood Larrie to mean that LL volunteered to collect VAT and not that each individual volunteers to be charged it.

As far as the UK is concerned, I believe they have to charge it because they have offices in the UK.

Technically, any US business selling into Europe is required to charge VAT.

There is no enforcement of this, other than nebulous penalties that I'm not sure have ever been used (eg, banning trading of stocks on European stock exchanges)

Well - it's the end seller who accounts for the tax finally, so it doesn't really matter if a non-EU company doesn't pay; the full amount of tax due gets paid at the point of final consumption. The way VAT works (special schemes apart) is that those involved in the supply chain add VAT on to the price of the goods they are selling to the next wholesaler; the wholesaler adds their %age etc and charges VAT on top of the new price to the next buyer. When it's time to account for VAT, the wholesaler DEDUCTS all the tax they've paid so far, and ADDS all the tax they've charged on to next buyers - the balance going to the national treasury.

If a US company was selling direct into the EU, VAT becomes chargeable at the point of import for physical goods (i.e. you can't get them off the dockside without paying). It's only for non-physical goods - like the supply of SL - that the problem arises which is what the European Commission was trying to address with their regulation on the subject, no matter how dim-witted and unsightful it was.

But then that's the Commission for you.

Inc

... there's a principle at stake here.

LL said they were forced to charge VAT because of the Brighton office. Forced? Come on! Own up! Who put a gun to their head and made them open a UK office? Riiight... Thought so...

Anyway. Here we are, as usual, a very public government announcement has been made, that UK VAT will drop from 17.5% in December the 1st.
And what reaction from LL? Well, if there has been one, it's been quite well hidden. I certainly haven't seen one. Has anyone?

So, what's the likely result? I suspect that LL, with their usual efficiency and sense of fair play to their paying customers are going to ignore this.

Then, when someone drives over to Brighton (it's only 40 miles away for me) and pops into the local HM Revenue & Customs offices to complain, they'll play the 'Oh, we're American, terribly sorry, we didn't know' card. Though, with luck, they'll try the 'Oh, we're American, we are only subject to US law' card, which won't amuse HM's Tax Collectors at all - and probably not the inhabitants of the Brighton office either...

We shall see. Whatever, LL trade from within the UK. LL charge UK VAT. And LL are NOT going to get away with charging me the incorrect rate of UK VAT! Well, not for very long...

The billing dept is in Gateshead (north of England), so they can't possibly miss the VAT change, and I've no doubt that it will be changed in the bills.

What I'm curious to know is when they'll change it. My alt's tier, which is paid in arrears, is due on the 1st, but LL don't take the money until midnight West Coast time, which is 8 a.m. on the 2nd for us in the UK. I'm curious to know if the VAT will be lower this time or if, because I've used the month's tier under the old rate, they'll still take the old rate. To my way of thinking, they should take it at the new rate, because the bill isn't raised until 8 a.m. on the 2nd and I would think that VAT rate at the time the bill is raised should be the rate to take.

Out of curiosity, I had a chat with a family member who worked in Customs & Excise until a few years ago (they handle VAT). It seems that it's up to the company what price point they choose from several possibilities. They can charge VAT at the rate that applied while the expense was being incurred, or at the applicable rate at the time of raising the bill, or at the rate when the money is received. In this case, the second and third occur at the same time. What they can't do is change their choice of price point whenever they choose, therefore, they can't choose it to be at the time the expense is incurred this time and, when the VAT goes back up, choose it to be a different price point.

So I'll wait and see what happens on Monday/Tuesday morning.

the vat change will be small compared with the increase due to the falling pound...since january the exchange rate drop has added a substantial amount to my bill....

and as Lindens seem quite happy to push their presence in Europe WHY can't we pay our tiers at a FIXED ENGLISH RATE(and I dont mean via some third party)this is something users in the UK should be pushing for if Lindens are going to apply european taxes.

Phil this link might answer your question and then again it might not. Confused! you will be. But definitely worth waiting to see on Tuesday what happens.

http://www.ukbusinesslabs.co.uk/forums/money-finances-accounting/1295-vat-when-15-should-actually-17-5-a.html

and if they get it wrong what choice do you think LL will use. 1 or 2

Look on the brightside, for all UK citizens the were plans drawn up to actually increase VAT to 18.5% and were only changed at the last minute prior to the budget announcement.

Then what would of been the title of your thread Phil? LOL

Interesting article, and it shows me that I should have used the phrase "tax point" instead of "price point" in my other post Judging by the article, LL will charge me at 17.5% on the 1st. The interesting thing, for me, affer that will be the 24th. That's when my main av's tier is due, and the whole of the 14 day rule will be in December. What's the betting that LL collects 17.5% throughout December, claiming that, as part of the services were delivered during the 17.5% rate, they *must* charge 17.5% for the whole bill. I don't think they'll do that, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did. Mostly, they don't provide VAT invoices so they can pocket the difference.

I have just spoken with Eilyn in Billing Live Chat ... they are aware that the VAT rate has dropped from 17.5% to 15% from Monday 1st December and the new rate will be updated midnight Sunday 30th November GMT.

It sounds like they are using the date the bill is raised as their tax point, and that my alt's tier will be reduced. We'll see.

Jack said it was the next billing cycle so yes it does look as if all tier payments from Monday will be at the reduced rate.