[ Death Cab For Cutie - Black Sun ]
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A heads-up on #EUVAT / #VATMOSS / #VATMESS
Update on 13/3/2015: Patreon have announced that they will handle the collection, filing and remittance of VAT in the EU on behalf of their creators!!!! Half of this post is, therefore, irrelevant, but you can read it if you want.
Update on 13/2/2015: Gumroad have announced that they will be complying with the new rules and will collect and pay VAT to the EU on sales made through their platform.I will therefore be putting my PDFs back up soon. My PDFs are back up!
For reasons related to a new EU-wide tax law on digital products, I've suspended my Patreon campaign. Plans to make any money off digital versions of my personal work are for the most part suspended indefinitely (update 9/3/2015: PDFs are available again on Gumroad , so there's that).
Since January 1, 2015, for any one person in another EU country who pays money for my digital content, I would need to collect, analyse and store two pieces of evidence that they live there, collect VAT according to one of 75 different applicable rates in the EU and file quarterly VAT returns on what could sometimes literally be enough to treat myself to an extra döner.
There's a reason why people like me benefit from a VAT threshold in Germany, but this law renders that threshold void the minute a fan in Paris pays for my digital comics. I don't have the means to handle the admin involved when that happens, so I'm not going to let it happen. There is an exemption for income generated through third-party sites like Patreon,but Patreon currently do not have a solution implemented (though they say they are working on it) and I'm not interested in accruing income that might make me liable for collecting and documenting VAT on a corporate scale. Patreon have announced that they will handle the collection, filing and remittance of VAT in the EU on behalf of their creators, so that's awesome an
To sum things up, a whole swath of my 2015 plans have been scrapped because the EU missed the memo that microbusinesses aren't staffed like Amazon. It's the kind of setback you don't want to see happen when you're an independent creator. Ever.
Update on 13/2/2015: Gumroad have announced that they will be complying with the new rules and will collect and pay VAT to the EU on sales made through their platform.
Since January 1, 2015, for any one person in another EU country who pays money for my digital content, I would need to collect, analyse and store two pieces of evidence that they live there, collect VAT according to one of 75 different applicable rates in the EU and file quarterly VAT returns on what could sometimes literally be enough to treat myself to an extra döner.
There's a reason why people like me benefit from a VAT threshold in Germany, but this law renders that threshold void the minute a fan in Paris pays for my digital comics. I don't have the means to handle the admin involved when that happens, so I'm not going to let it happen. There is an exemption for income generated through third-party sites like Patreon,
To sum things up, a whole swath of my 2015 plans have been scrapped because the EU missed the memo that microbusinesses aren't staffed like Amazon. It's the kind of setback you don't want to see happen when you're an independent creator. Ever.
To get more information on what this new law means for creators selling digital products to consumers in the EU, including digital downloads of music, books and video, go here. To sign the petition demanding an EU-wide exemption for small businesses and sole traders, go here.
The system designed by this legislation is unsustainable for freelancers like myself and there will come a time when lawmakers must reckon with the damage. Until then, as much as it kills me to hit a brick wall like this on my projects, I'd rather play it safe and back out.
As you were.
(Updated Feb. 13, 2015 concerning Gumroad and March 9, 2015 concerning Patreon.)
As you were.
(Updated Feb. 13, 2015 concerning Gumroad and March 9, 2015 concerning Patreon.)
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