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Yeah, what's up with that? Apple-esque practices for digital goods. I just used a VPN to purchase the $ plan instead.



If you bought it personally (i.e. a B2C sale) you should be fine, but as a warning for any (update: UK based, at least) VAT-registered traders or businesses, you will need to reverse charge the VAT which mostly defeats the point.


You don't need to reverse charge the VAT as a EU business because there's no VAT stated on the invoice at all (b/c it's a US company).

[edited] this is bullocks, IANAA(ccountant) applies here deservedly.


Maybe VAT law is different in your country but that is not true in the UK where reverse charging of VAT is required on services where the supplier is "outside the UK" (including outside the EU). Indeed, HMRC's guidance on this includes an example of a US-based Web hosting company providing hosting to a UK business: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/vatpossmanual/vatposs14300.ht...

HMRC do note that "the UK applies the reverse charge provisions more widely than elsewhere in the EU", however, and for this I get the joy of having to reverse charge about 50 invoices a quarter for US services (all our hosting, SaaS bills, etc) ;-) For example, if a host in the US bills us $100, we then have to reverse charge $20 converted into GBP at approved rates, then claim the equivalent back.. so the net position is zero but it has to be accounted for (holds head in hands and rocks back and forth).


^ to peter [edited] Aha, just checked with my accountant and that is indeed the case, it is a net zero operation. Still doesn't matter for the $ / € story though.




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