Garbatellamike

Do you mean morally right or legally right?????

Maybe1day

Fiat is a classic example. The Italian gov had the choice of letting Fiat move its fiscal abode outside of Italy or face closure of its Italian factories.

As a buyer of goods on Fleabay etc what happens to the VAT, should it not be paid in the country of purchase. When I have bought goods and had them sent to Hongkong they were without VAT?

EMR

There is no vat across borders in the EU. That local levels of vat are charged when the product is resold in the country that imports. The exception is when tax havens such as the channel islands was used by Amazon. . I sell for companies in Portugal and Belgium in the UK.
Profits come with responsibilty be that acting ethically or paying the fare share of tax.
I worked for almost 20 years for profitable global business.No 1 in its mission statement was not to ensure dividends for the shareholders but to act ethically in all aspects of its business. It was no 2 in the world in its industry.

Fredbargate

VAT is an EU tax, it is levied in the country of purchase for the private purchaser. So if someone in Spain orders from the UK then the VAT is paid in the UK generally 20%
However for a business then the VAT is paid in their country of business, so a Spanish business purchasing a product from the UK will not pay UK VAT but pay VAT in Spain generally 21%

However Gibraltar is the exception because it does not have VAT but instead Import Duty which varies from 6% to 25% but 12% on most goods ( I believe that is correct at the moment but it used to be up to 35% or more )
So if I order from the UK the supplier should not charge VAT ( Some however try to and therefore lose orders ) and I pay the relevant percentage on the landed cost of the goods, that is the cost + freight + insurance.

Hong Kong is of course outside Europe therefore a European supplier should not be charging VAT.

amideislas

So, any company selling in the UK should be paying income tax in the UK? What if they also sell in Spain? Pay income tax there, too? What if they sell all over the world? Pay income tax in all countries, worldwide?

I reckon that would put a quick end to globalisation and send us all back a few hundred years.

And by that same definition, I reckon we expats are all more or less equally tax-evaders, too. After all, we 'owe' the UK (or other countries) our patronage, but we pay tax in another country. How fair is that to those still living in your home country? No wonder they hate you. You're ripping them off of what they're rightfully entitled to: YOUR money.

We really should be paying tax in all the countries we've ever lived in. It's our moral obligation as citizens, just as it is for businesses who've ever conducted business abroad.

Ok, in all fairness, we all may end up impoverished, but at least it will be fair.

Right,then.

amideislas

Import duties cover VAT. Private sellers aren't obliged to pay VAT. Commercial sellers are obliged to collect VAT, and most do.

By the way, in case you hadn't noticed, VAT ain't cheap anywhere in the EU. It rivals as much as people pay in income tax on other continents. But we pay that twice over - on top.

The problem with the Europe isn't that there's not enough tax revenue. The problem is that EU governments spend like it's an endless fountain. And that explains a lot about why few politicians ever mention "tax cuts". The system is already unsustainable; tax cuts just aren't in the cards.

VAT is a very successful revenue-generation system that few can skirt. In fact, we'll likely only see VAT (and all taxes) increase in the future. VAT (IVA, MwST, etc.) may grow to as much as 30% by the end of the decade, and income taxes will rise too. Especially for anyone who's above poverty level.

More is always better. Ka-ching! New airport in the middle of nowhere, anyone?

Fredbargate

Absolutely correct, at present any UK expat receiving a pension or any other money from the UK is denying the UK Government of approximately 17.5% of that money which would be paid in VAT if you were still resident.

johnnyone

Both and the law should reflect that. Companies should pay their tax (on profits) in the country where the profit is made and not be allowed to disguise that by passing supplies through another country with a lower tax (on profits) regime. Inflating the cost to the end user country in this way is in my opinion wrong.

Fredbargate

So if a company in country A buys a product at say £10 and sells it to a sister company in country B for £30 then it should pay tax on the £20 profit in country A ?

However in country B the sister company sells the product for only £35 because that is as much as the the product will sustain then country B only gets tax on the £5 profit ?

But both company's are under the same ownership

Country A has lower taxes than country B

I'm sure we could name a company or two doing that or similar.



Another example

Someone is sat at a telephone in country A selling a product to country B

Where is the profit made ?

johnnyone

[QUOTE=Fredbargate;11533225]So if a company in country A buys a product at say £10 and sells it to a sister company in country B for £30 then it should pay tax on the £20 profit in country A ?

However in country B the sister company sells the product for only £35 because that is as much as the the product will sustain then country B only gets tax on the £5 profit ?

But both company's are under the same ownership

Country A has lower taxes than country B

I'm sure we could name a company or two doing that or similar.

No a company supplies country A but is invoiced through country B at an inflated price. Tax is paid on that profit in country B that has a lower tax regime, however all of the income is derived from country A.
The product doesn't even go near country B yet they make the profit. That cannot be right

Fredbargate

In the early nineties I was buying from Switzerland and selling at £100 per unit ( £50 profit to me ) to tourists mainly from the UK and also I was trying to sell into the UK and elswhere.

A UK company was selling the same product at £250 and insisted they were the only company allowed to sell into the UK and also they should be my supplier at £175 per unit as Gib was part of the UK.

I had a very good relationship with the Swiss company and they resisted pressure from the UK company until unfortunately the UK company bought them out.

They then refused to supply me

Garbatellamike

The law(s) should but it (they) doesn't. I agree with you from the moral perspective johnyone but the harsh reality is otherwise.....

Garbatellamike

[QUOTE=johnnyone;11533434] It is even worse than that. What some companies do is set up a new company in a tax haven, they then transfer the IPR of their product to the new company for a nominal sum. The company in the tax haven then franchises the product back to the company in the country where the product is sold/made. The franchise fee just happens to equal/exceed the turnover/profit and the original company which then declares minimal profit or even a loss whilst the company in the tax haven declares a profit from the franchise fee and pays the minimal taxes there.

It's not right but it's legal!

Fredbargate

Spanish subsidies for 'fishing fleet' unable to fish because of 'obstacles by Gibraltar authorities'

What the papers say
Spanish Government has announced that it will continue paying throughout 2015 the subsidies to their fishing fleet that are '' still unable to fish in Gibraltar waters because of the obstacles imposed by the Gibraltar authorities''.

The subsidy the fishing boat owners receive has a limit of 500 Euros per month per vessel and in addition a limit of 187.25 Euros per enrolled crew member of each vessel.

http://www.panorama.gi/localnews/hea...12792&offset=0

amideislas

In case nobody noticed, we already have some of the highest taxes on the planet

Vilifying anyone or any country who has lower taxation than us won't make our tax burdens any lower.