I feel insulted for all those people who earn an income less than £10K from what they would see as a business. They are now just doing a hobby.
If I am retired or work at home mum etc this is a very important income. Dont see that the hobby label does anything but insult here.
The point is that a very small business is going to struggle with these overheads or in some cases just stop before they start at the thought.
Unfortunately the EU thinks this is levelling the playing field when non EU businesses are going to continue to ignore EU VAT like they have up to now. This is the case in the lower hobby end of business.
For my nano-business there is an unintended consequence of the forced VAT registration and collection. It creates an unfair advantage for non eu companies (who will decide not to implement this). Let me explain.
My lead generation includes a very low cost impulse purchase. Before 2015 I could as for a minimum of information just enough to make the sale. Now I have to ask for more information and do some double checking. This creates more friction and means less sales.
Imagine buying gum from a shop and being asked for your name and address while the shop next door in the rest of the world just takes payment quickly. Who do you use?
Online every extra step or extra info collected means less sales. While my US competition will not have the same problem. Because of these rules I will have to switch from a quick paypal button to a more detailed full cart.
Along with this as a nano-business I depend on platforms to manage my payments. Most of this platforms are external to the EU and are only now slowly adding any support for VATMOSS. Some of these platforms are unable to get clear answers to questions to implement this see http://euvataction.org/quiz/ if you think you understand the tax.
I currently place my product on multiple platforms as part of my marketing. To use VATMOSS I would have to withdraw my product from these platforms until they support VATMOSS.
Like the government you fail to recognise the world of nano-businesses with turnovers of a few pounds to a few thousand. Lots of these business provide support to single mums, less able people and those trying hard to support themselves without government handouts. These rules put this sector at risk.
My answers
True colours - Les
I feel insulted for all those people who earn an income less than £10K from what they would see as a business. They are now just doing a hobby.
If I am retired or work at home mum etc this is a very important income. Dont see that the hobby label does anything but insult here.
The point is that a very small business is going to struggle with these overheads or in some cases just stop before they start at the thought.
Unfortunately the EU thinks this is levelling the playing field when non EU businesses are going to continue to ignore EU VAT like they have up to now. This is the case in the lower hobby end of business.
Unintended Consequences
For my nano-business there is an unintended consequence of the forced VAT registration and collection. It creates an unfair advantage for non eu companies (who will decide not to implement this). Let me explain.
My lead generation includes a very low cost impulse purchase. Before 2015 I could as for a minimum of information just enough to make the sale. Now I have to ask for more information and do some double checking. This creates more friction and means less sales.
Imagine buying gum from a shop and being asked for your name and address while the shop next door in the rest of the world just takes payment quickly. Who do you use?
Online every extra step or extra info collected means less sales. While my US competition will not have the same problem. Because of these rules I will have to switch from a quick paypal button to a more detailed full cart.
Along with this as a nano-business I depend on platforms to manage my payments. Most of this platforms are external to the EU and are only now slowly adding any support for VATMOSS. Some of these platforms are unable to get clear answers to questions to implement this see http://euvataction.org/quiz/ if you think you understand the tax.
I currently place my product on multiple platforms as part of my marketing. To use VATMOSS I would have to withdraw my product from these platforms until they support VATMOSS.
Like the government you fail to recognise the world of nano-businesses with turnovers of a few pounds to a few thousand. Lots of these business provide support to single mums, less able people and those trying hard to support themselves without government handouts. These rules put this sector at risk.