Treasury to close loophole that allows VAT-free DVD

[Ferhan]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15646470

a sad day for the blu-ray/dvd consumer in UK

[Billz]

[lgans316]

Should we in the UK pay VAT for goods exceeding 15 GBP that are shipped by play.com or hmv or other Jersey / Channel Islands based retailers?

[Albatross365]

Forget the £15 limit.

If I read this correctly, there will be no limit for the Channel Islands. All will be subject to VAT

[No1_Dave]

this really sucks, very bad news for the consumers, yeah government loves to get more tax, uk companies will probably love the news, but the most important people, the people/consumers who actually pay for the products, got the raw end of the deal

[hedliniv]

Does this affect US customers of amazon.co.uk? That's horrible news for our uk members!

[psicon]

A story about losing out on 140 million a year in taxes when Vodafone are reported to have been let off up to 6 billion in taxes.
Screw the little guy while pretending to look out for the little guy. Business as usual.

[Tafsir]

Rip-Off Britain , as we call it ,

our government, just loves ripping us off

just hope the british sites lower there prices, then

[No1_Dave]

yeah, that's really what annoys me, 140 mil sounds a lot, but really a drop in the ocean in the government finances, plenty of better/more effective ways to collect more tax, should be taxing the very rich more, not the average joe who just wants a good deal buying online.

[Groge511]

As you may or may not know just about all of the online retailers (Amazon, Play, HMV, The Hut) operate on the Channel Islands due to there being no added VAT on Blu-rays, DVD's, Games & CD's. This however is all about to change come April 2012. The Government are going to take away this "no VAT" and so the retailers will have to boost their prices to match High Street stores such as HMV, unless of course they find somewhere else they can operate from without being charged VAT.
Here is my source
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/tax-d...islands/087417

[DaveSimonH]

Originally Posted by Groge511

As you may or may not know just about all of the online retailers (Amazon, Play, HMV, The Hut) operate on the Channel Islands due to there being no added VAT on Blu-rays, DVD's, Games & CD's. This however is all about to change come April 2012. The Government are going to take away this "no VAT" and so the retailers will have to boost their prices to match High Street stores such as HMV, unless of course they find somewhere else they can operate from without being charged VAT.
Here is my source
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/tax-d...islands/087417

About 9 days late mate;

Treasury to close loophole that allows VAT-free DVD

[Groge511]

oh! lol! my bad!

[adamhopelies]

Dramatic much? This isn't going to be as bad as some people seem to think. We already pay VAT on Amazon products, and HMV.com haven't used Jersey for some time. Unless you're a massive fan of Play.com or the hut group then you have little to worry about. If anything this should see the end of Indigo Starfish, a name whose I dread seeing alongside an amazon listing.

[CinemaScope]

Yeah, we've had this. Nothing will "rocket" in price (except energy costs!). The way things are going, prices will come down if shops actually want to sell anything.

[Baseball Fury]

Originally Posted by adamhopelies

Dramatic much? This isn't going to be as bad as some people seem to think. We already pay VAT on Amazon products, and HMV.com haven't used Jersey for some time.

That isn't strictly true, whilst HMV don't ship from Jersey, all their online products ship from Guernsey, which is also in the Channel Islands, thus VAT exempt.

[BigNickUK]

Originally Posted by Groge511

As you may or may not know just about all of the online retailers (Amazon, Play, HMV, The Hut) operate on the Channel Islands due to there being no added VAT on Blu-rays, DVD's, Games & CD's. This however is all about to change come April 2012. The Government are going to take away this "no VAT" and so the retailers will have to boost their prices to match High Street stores such as HMV, unless of course they find somewhere else they can operate from without being charged VAT.
Here is my source
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/tax-d...islands/087417

Coming from a Scot, I will take that with a pinch of salt

[Groge511]

Just think I should point out to everybody this has nothing to do with me. I didn't create this information nor have I expressed any opinion on this matter. I was merely the reporter (even if it was late!). I was just letting people know

[The Driver]

Originally Posted by Groge511

As you may or may not know just about all of the online retailers (Amazon, Play, HMV, The Hut) operate on the Channel Islands due to there being no added VAT on Blu-rays, DVD's, Games & CD's. This however is all about to change come April 2012. The Government are going to take away this "no VAT" and so the retailers will have to boost their prices to match High Street stores such as HMV, unless of course they find somewhere else they can operate from without being charged VAT.
Here is my source
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/tax-d...islands/087417

[fellow Scot so being extra nice]

A bit crap there dude. Amazon do not nor ever have they operated from any Crown Discrepency Dependency.

And it's old news.

But you know that now and we all forgive you

[/fellow Scot so being extra nice]


I'm not too much affected either way with the Channel Island tax dodge but the "£15" international thing is a bit trickier for me but it just takes a bit more thought to workaround.

It's still pretty fascinating to see what will happen to these very small companies essentially when their cash stream is slowed. Real shame if we lose any as it keeps the market vibrant.

I do believe there's some new tax dodging afoot although I'm sworn to secrecy (I'd have to kill you if I told you) but it may involve exporting from the UK to the Channel Islands (as happens now), then posting bulk contract to An Post (that's the Irish Post) and then on to and within other EU countries.

There are several other potential dodges I've been mulling over.

But don't tell anyone. Especially Her Maj the Queen.