What is the exact VAT position on royalties from ebooks?

What is the exact VAT position on royalties...

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Trying to confirm the exact VAT position for sales of ebooks through Amazon. Both HMRC and Amazon are of no help.

Ebooks are standard rated. So presumably royalties from amazon.co.uk would be accountable at the standard rate, But it's parent company is in Luxembourg, so maybe not? Royalties from amazon.com are from outside the EU and so would presumably be "outside the scope of VAT".

Royalties from EU are also a grey area. Amazon has lots of sub-companies that pay royalties - amazon.de, amazon.fr, amazon.it etc.

Can anyone help me through this minefield?     

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By carnmores
15th Nov 2013 16:02

i have had a few of these

My view is that the relationship is probably between the author and the individual Amazon company but it will depend on the type of arrangement / contract that they have - it is unlikely to be with the individual customer in each territory as a royalty is being paid so normal vat rules would apply however this may be complicated by a number of matters such as how do Amazon charge their customers . i suggest as a starting point you (1) get sight of the agreements and (2) purchase a title for your self to see what info you can glean. ebooks as you know are vatable so it will be interesting to see what a customer receipt looks like. 

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