[ic] Help !! TAX RATE, VAT and TRANSLATION to SPANISH

[Lyn St George]

On Fri, 22 Mar 2002 07:15:47 -0000, Kevin Walsh wrote:

-
>> which are the tax rates for the EU as given to me 
>> by HM Customs&Excise here in the UK.
>> 
>What did you ask HMCE for?  Just a list of local tax rates?
>
>You need to speak to your accountant about this, but I'm sure
>you'll find that exporting from one EU country to any EU country
>will attract VAT at the vendor's rate.  So, if you're in the UK,
>you'll need to charge the standard rate VAT (17.5%) on all VATable
>items you send to any other EU country.

While there was good reason for this to be in a test catalogue, it 
should never have found its way into the production catalogue I 
copied it from, And I *should* have noticed, no matter how late at 
night I posted. Mea culpa, and apologies to any who may have 
been misled. 

In fact, if you're "exporting" services (as opposed to physical
goods) then these should be zero rated if the customer in the EU 
is using them for business purposes (whether or not he is VAT 
registered himself). The customer must then account for VAT in
his own jurisdiction at the prevailing rate.  Selling services in 
the UK to a customer in the UK attracts standard rate VAT of 
course, and the situation for physical goods is slightly different.

For goods, they are still zero rated if sent within the EU, but you 
need proof that they have left the UK and you need to get the 
customer's VAT reg number.

http://www.hmce.gov.uk has some info, though it pays to verify 
what they are trying to tell you:/

>Of course, if you are exporting to a VAT-registered EU company,
>you need not charge VAT at all.  Just make a note of their VAT
>(or BTW/IVA/TVA/FPA/MOMS/MWST or whatever) registration number
>and let them pay the tax, at their local rate, when they do their
>accounts.

True, as noted above, but I've never found a way to check the validity. 
Every country has its own format for a VAT number, and some (like Ireland) 
can have more than one format. It needs something like the LUHN 10 
algorithm for CC checking modified for VAT numbers. Otherwise, if 
you just rely on trust, then someone will give you a false number 
and then the VATman really will be after you for his dues. 

>-- 
>   _/   _/  _/_/_/_/  _/    _/  _/_/_/  _/    _/
>  _/_/_/   _/_/      _/    _/    _/    _/_/  _/   K e v i n   W a l s h
> _/ _/    _/          _/ _/     _/    _/  _/_/    kevin@cursor.biz
>_/   _/  _/_/_/_/      _/    _/_/_/  _/    _/

-
Cheers
Lyn St George
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