Price differences for CM games for UK and EU customers

[Grey_Fox]

16 minutes ago, fireship4 said:

A tax of this sort is not charged on imports which will be sold on to consumers, it is charged at the point of sale (or paid and reclaimed), and not charged twice on the same product.  It is charged on all consumer products which are not exempt for one reason or another (basic food items or sanitary products for example).  It is a tax designed to adjust with spending on consumer good, but not affect businesses.

UK purchasers were in fact getting Battlefront games tax-free up to now it seems, giving Battlefront an advantage over other sellers.

British consumers were getting tax-free purchases on imports up to a certain value, at which point tax was applied.

The part you've left out is that British **exports** received the same benefits, so now customers of British companies face this new tax on all goods they purchase. So British consumers are paying more, and customers of British companies are paying more.

It's a double whammy to both imports (people are now having to spend more for the same goods, which means they are poorer) and exports (which means companies have to find ways to cut back, and the easiest way to do that is to shed jobs).

Edited January 21, 2021 by Grey_Fox

[Lucky_Strike]

13 minutes ago, fireship4 said:

It's the same with smiling at old ladies.

Qué?

16 minutes ago, fireship4 said:

UK purchasers were in fact getting Battlefront games tax-free up to now it seems, giving Battlefront an advantage over other sellers.

I think this depends on whether BF had an EU distributor/registered office. I recall in the past when I purchased CMBN in a metal tin that it came from Irish Republic. However no one has commented on it now so who knows.

8 hours ago, Holien said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55734277

From this article:

---------

Under the new rules, anyone in the UK receiving a gift from the EU worth more than £39 may now face a bill for import VAT - with many items charged at 20%.

For goods costing more than £135, customs duties may also apply, which can range from 0% to 25% of the product you're buying if they have not been paid by the sender already.

The extra charges are usually collected by the courier on behalf of the government, with customers asked to pay before they can pick up their package.

---------

Pretty clear what to expect, this is in fact the same as was applied to imports/shopping/gifts from the rest of the world pre-Brexit. Now all that is happening is the same rule is being applied to everything that crosses into UK*

*Excepting some stuff that may go on to Northern Ireland and/or Irish Republic

Now where's my bucket of sand ...

[fireship4]

26 minutes ago, Grey_Fox said:

British consumers were getting tax-free purchases on imports up to a certain value, at which point tax was applied.

I am unaware of this, could you point me towards the legislation?  As far as I'm aware this isn't true, unless you mean customs duty, which is different from VAT.  Customs duty is applied to adjust the prices of foreign goods in relation to domestic goods (correct me if I'm wrong) for one or another end.  While part of the EU customs duty was not paid on products bought or sold across it.

11 minutes ago, Lucky_Strike said:

I think this depends on whether BF had an EU distributor/registered office. I recall in the past when I purchased CMBN in a metal tin that it came from Irish Republic. However no one has commented on it now so who knows.

I think there was a system in place for EU countries so that VAT was paid once (or paid and then reclaimed) on a product sold across borders, like the in-country systems.  Therefore the VAT was paid on it one way or another.

14 minutes ago, Lucky_Strike said:

Under the new rules, anyone in the UK receiving a gift from the EU worth more than £39 may now face a bill for import VAT - with many items charged at 20%.

If the game is for yourself, declaring it as a gift is tax fraud.  Otherwise import VAT can be reclaimed by the importer, and is charged to the consumer.  This is effectively same as all products regardless of origin that VAT applies to.

[Grey_Fox]

13 minutes ago, fireship4 said:

I am unaware of this, could you point me towards the legislation?  As far as I'm aware this isn't true, unless you mean customs duty, which is different from VAT.  Customs duty is applied to adjust the prices of foreign goods in relation to domestic goods (correct me if I'm wrong) for one or another end.  While part of the EU customs duty was not paid on products bought or sold across it.

I may have gotten my wording muddled.

This is a high-level FAQ (parts 4 and 5 seem most relevant): https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/2021-brexit-top-50-faq.pdf

This goes into more depth: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/brexit_files/vat-goods_en.pdf

UK/US trade is also impacted (you can see from the screenshots in my first post as well as Elvis' comment) byt changes to taxation.

[Lethaface]

11 minutes ago, Grey_Fox said:

I may have gotten my wording muddled.

This is a high-level FAQ (parts 4 and 5 seem most relevant): https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/2021-brexit-top-50-faq.pdf

This goes into more depth: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/brexit_files/vat-goods_en.pdf

UK/US trade is also impacted (you can see from the screenshots in my first post as well as Elvis' comment) byt changes to taxation.

You also can't bring ham sandwiches to the continent anymore, or at least our customs do check lunchboxes so I heard. 

[fireship4]

1 hour ago, Grey_Fox said:

This is a high-level FAQ (parts 4 and 5 seem most relevant): https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/2021-brexit-top-50-faq.pdf

This goes into more depth: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/brexit_files/vat-goods_en.pdf

UK/US trade is also impacted (you can see from the screenshots in my first post as well as Elvis' comment) byt changes to taxation.

As far as I know, nothing relevant has changed.  The 20% increase added for UK purchases means either:

1. Battlefront were paying VAT before on digital sales to UK consumers, adjusting the base price of the product to make the final price the same between US/EU markets, and have now decided to increase their prices by 20% for the UK.
2. Battlefront were not paying VAT before on sales to UK consumers, and now they are.

Edited January 21, 2021 by fireship4

[Grey_Fox]

4 minutes ago, fireship4 said:

Battlefront were not paying VAT before on sales to UK consumers, and now they are.

Well it's the latter since the UK no longer has the same trade agreement they had with the US as they had when they were in the EU. Purchases under a certain value from the US don't have additional tax applied for me, whereas it does in the UK.

Edited January 21, 2021 by Grey_Fox

[fireship4]

16 minutes ago, Grey_Fox said:

Well it's the latter since the UK no longer has the same trade agreement they had with the US as they had when they were in the EU. Purchases under a certain value from the US don't have additional tax applied for me, whereas it does in the UK.

VAT applies to US imports, the US seller does not charge sales tax, but should charge VAT to the consumer as 20% is payable on import.  If there is a separate importer they pay the import VAT (the same) and then get a rebate after they sell it on to you.  This is all separate to customs & excise, which may be what you are referring to when you say that purchases under a certain amount are not charged.

[Lucky_Strike]

6 hours ago, fireship4 said:

I think there was a system in place for EU countries so that VAT was paid once (or paid and then reclaimed) on a product sold across borders, like the in-country systems.  Therefore the VAT was paid on it one way or another.

Well yes, VAT was included in the price to the consumer. As a normal consumer of something like a game one doesn’t see the VAT, the price is just the price. So when purchasing the game previously from BF the VAT was not seen. Now it’s there on top of the price. So whereas previously we may have purchased the game inclusive of VAT now we purchase the game with VAT added. Whether this was correct previously or not is irrelevant, we are now expected to pay the added VAT which is a causal effect of Brexit. BF could choose to swallow the VAT to keep the elective price the same for GB buyers, but why should they? I postulated that the reason we didn’t previously pay added VAT was because BF previously used a distributor in the EU or had a registered office in the EU. However one wants to look at this we (GB customers, can’t speak for NI) are now having to pay an extra 20% for the game. Might be insignificant to some, but not to me.

7 hours ago, fireship4 said:

If the game is for yourself, declaring it as a gift is tax fraud.  Otherwise import VAT can be reclaimed by the importer, and is charged to the consumer.  This is effectively same as all products regardless of origin that VAT applies to.

Hmm, perhaps the wording in the article is a bit confused, but no, declaring something with a value of over £39 as a gift, regardless of who it’s for, is not tax fraud, one can receive gifts of any value. Not declaring the true value and not paying tax that is due is tax fraud, or probably tax evasion, not sure which. I think the article is saying that anything imported with a value under £39 that is a gift will not attract VAT or import duties, anything over this value up to £135 will attract VAT, then anything over £135 will attract VAT and import duty. This was the case pre-Brexit for stuff imported from outside the EU. Also we benefitted from Low value consignment relief until 1 Jan 2021, but this is now not the case. From UK Gov:

Low value consignment relief (LVCR), which is an import VAT exemption for goods valued at £15 or less, has been removed in:

Great Britain for goods imported from outside the UK

Northern Ireland for goods ordered remotely that are imported from outside the UK and EU

Direct link to UK Gov site about this is here

So watch out if you buy a £14.99 CD from France or a Hello Kitty t-shirt from HK for £9.99 - you’ll now get slapped with a bill for VAT (plus a nice admin fee of course). Thinks out loud to self ... gotta love Brexit and stop complaining, mustn’t rub any more Brexiteer noses in it.

5 hours ago, fireship4 said:

As far as I know, nothing relevant has changed.  The 20% increase added for UK purchases means either:

1. Battlefront were paying VAT before on digital sales to UK consumers, adjusting the base price of the product to make the final price the same between US/EU markets, and have now decided to increase their prices by 20% for the UK.
2. Battlefront were not paying VAT before on sales to UK consumers, and now they are.

1. I think this is somewhat fanciful. I somehow doubt that a small company like BF would be willing to swallow a 20% hit, even for a relatively small number of customers, and are they still doing it for our EU friends? This is a decision which has been instructed by the UK government. BF are seemingly complying with it, and will therefore be collecting VAT on sales to GB customers, and, presumably, sending that loot to the UK government, along with keeping those VAT receipts/records for six years.

2. A possibility, after all how were the UK, or EU for that matter, going to pursue the collection of VAT by a company based in the US? How would they pursue it now? What’s changed? Why only for GB customers? Only BF could answer that one @BFCElvis maybe comment. Was BF fleecing the UK taxpayer, or were they sucking it up for us? Or is this something to do with them working indirectly for UK Gov, conspiracies, conspiracies...?

@fireship4Sorry, can’t figure out how to paste a quote between thread pages so ...

fireship4 spake thus:

When people are playing computer games all day they aren't working.  It's the same with smiling at old ladies.

Please explain? I tried Google to understand but only got presented with this:

Sweet ain’t she ...

[fireship4]

2 hours ago, Lucky_Strike said:

Well yes, VAT was included in the price to the consumer. As a normal consumer of something like a game one doesn’t see the VAT, the price is just the price. So when purchasing the game previously from BF the VAT was not seen. Now it’s there on top of the price. So whereas previously we may have purchased the game inclusive of VAT now we purchase the game with VAT added. Whether this was correct previously or not is irrelevant, we are now expected to pay the added VAT which is a causal effect of Brexit. BF could choose to swallow the VAT to keep the elective price the same for GB buyers, but why should they? I postulated that the reason we didn’t previously pay added VAT was because BF previously used a distributor in the EU or had a registered office in the EU. However one wants to look at this we (GB customers, can’t speak for NI) are now having to pay an extra 20% for the game. Might be insignificant to some, but not to me.

VAT has not changed, so the price increase cannot be the addition of VAT, unless it was not paid previously.  Whether or not a registered office in the EU was used or not is immaterial as VAT is still applicable in that scenario.  Again, VAT was always supposed to be payable on the game, whatever country it originated from.  It is not exempt from what I can tell.

 

2 hours ago, Lucky_Strike said:

declaring something with a value of over £39 as a gift, regardless of who it’s for, is not tax fraud, one can receive gifts of any value. Not declaring the true value and not paying tax that is due is tax fraud, or probably tax evasion, not sure which.

According to gov.uk: "To qualify as gifts, goods must be:

• described as gifts on the customs declaration
• for a birthday, anniversary or other occasion
• bought and sent between individuals (not companies)
• intended for personal use"

 

2 hours ago, Lucky_Strike said:

I think the article is saying that anything imported with a value under £39 that is a gift will not attract VAT or import duties

The quote you used says: "Under the new rules, anyone in the UK receiving a gift from the EU worth more than £39 may now face a bill for import VAT - with many items charged at 20%."

VAT was always payable, this just means the VAT is charged at a different point (at import as opposed to point of sale).  VAT relief for gifts is not applicable to this discussion, and was £39 since at least 2016.

LVCR similarly does not apply, and VAT relief designed to stop wastage on checking low value consignments has little to do with leaving the EU.  The same goes for customs duty, which does not apply either in this case.

 

2 hours ago, Lucky_Strike said:

1. I think this is somewhat fanciful. I somehow doubt that a small company like BF would be willing to swallow a 20% hit, even for a relatively small number of customers, and are they still doing it for our EU friends? This is a decision which has been instructed by the UK government. BF are seemingly complying with it, and will therefore be collecting VAT on sales to GB customers, and, presumably, sending that loot to the UK government, along with keeping those VAT receipts/records for six years.

2. A possibility, after all how were the UK, or EU for that matter, going to pursue the collection of VAT by a company based in the US? How would they pursue it now? What’s changed? Why only for GB customers? Only BF could answer that one @BFCElvis maybe comment. Was BF fleecing the UK taxpayer, or were they sucking it up for us? Or is this something to do with them working indirectly for UK Gov, conspiracies, conspiracies...?

Again, VAT was always payable as far as I understand, it is collectable by the seller unless they determine the buyer is exempt, with a VAT number for example so they can sell the product onwards.  How it is enforced is somewhat irrelevant, it is the seller's responsibility to collect.

Case in point:

Battlefront will remain liable, and if everything is not in order HMRC will come for those little thumbies sooner or later.

 

2 hours ago, Lucky_Strike said:

When people are playing computer games all day they aren't working.  It's the same with smiling at old ladies.

Please explain? I tried Google to understand but only got presented with this:

Finally (please god), it was simply a humorously funny joke.  You asked "which UK business is disadvantaged when we buy something from BF?".  I jovially suggested the tax man was trying to disuade us from playing computer games, which generates little revenue, from which the state may take it's share.  I then furtively suggested smiling at old ladies, of which an exemplar:

was in a similar category, and should perhaps be taxed also.  All in jest of course, since smiling at the aged produces little monetary gain, yet does as much good to the heart of the smiler as it does to that of the smilee, and digital products are not sent to all and sundry via your face.  All clear?  Because this is becoming a quote-storm.

Edited January 22, 2021 by fireship4
Formatting, wording, corrections.

[Lucky_Strike]

3 hours ago, fireship4 said:

Finally (please god), it was simply a humorously funny joke.  You asked "which UK business is disadvantaged when we buy something from BF?".  I jovially suggested the tax man was trying to disuade us from playing computer games, which generates little revenue, from which the state may take it's share.  I then furtively suggested smiling at old ladies, of which an exemplar:

was in a similar category, and should perhaps be taxed also.  All in jest of course, since smiling at the aged produces little monetary gain, yet does as much good to the heart of the smiler as it does to that of the smilee, and digital products are not sent to all and sundry via your face.  All clear?  Because this is becoming a quote-storm.

Okkkaayyyy .... obviously not quick enough to fathom that one, do you by chance play along to Only Connect.

3 hours ago, fireship4 said:

VAT relief for gifts is not applicable to this discussion, and was £39 since at least 2016.

LVCR similarly does not apply, and VAT relief designed to stop wastage on checking low value consignments has little to do with leaving the EU.  The same goes for customs duty, which does not apply either in this case.

No one is saying that VAT relief on gifts is applicable, I was simply quoting and hopefully clarifying the points at which VAT is applicable.

Again, nobody is saying that LVRC is applicable to buying CMWE, I was just drawing attention to the fact that it no longer applies to anything, as of 1 Jan, make of that what you will, I am pretty certain that I know why it’s stopped.

As to whether VAT was included or not in the game price BEFORE 1 Jan and is added on top of the price now, well let me see, before it was $60, now it’s $72, either BF didn’t have to charge VAT, didn’t want to charge it, didn’t care to charge it, or it was included in the price, and now they are going to charge it. What’s changed since 1 Jan ... let me see ... ooh can’t mention that might cause an upset.

[fireship4]

58 minutes ago, Lucky_Strike said:

What’s changed since 1 Jan ... let me see ...

You are assuming that because the change was made around the UK's departure from the EU, that it was necessitated by it.  However, I am saying that there has been no change to the relevant tax law, which can be easily disproven by posting the relevant legislation.

Quote

ooh can’t mention that might cause an upset.

Who is upset?  I am saying you are wrong to ascribe the payment of VAT to the UK leaving the EU.  An academic argument for the sake of rational discourse.

Edited January 22, 2021 by fireship4

[The Steppenwulf]

Whilst the raw intention of this policy is to ensure the UK collects all due VAT, which clearly wasn't happening before (and is correct). It seems to me that there is a political motive on the part of the UK Govt by enacting this at the point of Brexit. The whole idea being essentially protectionist by taking away an advantage some imported goods were enjoying. That is consistent with the whole political nature of the Brexit venture - ultimately to prove that the UK is somehow better off as a result (and that is almost certainly not going to prove to be the case).

So this is really the big story here - the fear the Brexit leading Govt have - that the Brexit project is not perceived (by the time of the next election) to have been to the country's advantage. Given the fact that there are so many well-reported trade disadvantages from leaving the EU, covering this up by introducing measures that they hope will make it look like a success story is an obsession.


 

[Grey_Fox]

The only people who benefit in this additional taxation are the handful who can't compete with foreign goods. Everyone else suffers by having to pay higher prices. That's why free trade is good and I can't understand why people think that limiting cheaper imports is a good thing. Cheap imports increases peoples' spending power, which makes people better of.

I don't get why people think international free trade agreements were causing some sort of tax fraud. This new tax is an example of double taxation - taxes were already being paid at the point of sale, and now people in the UK are having to pay VAT on imports on arrival. People in the EU now also have to pay local VAT on British exports too.

Edited January 22, 2021 by Grey_Fox

[The Steppenwulf]

^ I don't think any of what you've written there is really correct. Furthermore, it has nothing to do with international trade agreements.

The UK Govt is merely trying to close an hitherto advantage enjoyed by non UK/EU traders who've been dodging paying VAT to HMRC.

Whether it proves cost effective is one question.

The other is - as I have pointed out - there is almost certainly a deeper political motive. How will the UK voter evaluate new 'global Britain' come the next UK election? Demonstrating that it has been a success for UK trade (esp trade balance) is everything to the Govt that's implemented the Brexit project.   
 

Edited January 22, 2021 by The Steppenwulf

[Erwin]

2 hours ago, The Steppenwulf said:

The other is - as I have pointed out - there is almost certainly a deeper political motive. How will the UK voter evaluate new 'global Britain' come the next UK election?

Brexit was part of the "protest" by workers primarily in the NE and Wales who have not benefited (and indeed suffered) from the effects of globalization and other open border policies of the EU (as also in the US).  Whether or not they will benefit from Brexit, certainly there are a lot of very angry lower-income/working class folks who feel betrayed... and they aren't going anywhere.  If things do not improve for them, the next election could be ugly.

[Lucky_Strike]

 

8 hours ago, fireship4 said:

You are assuming that because the change was made around the UK's departure from the EU, that it was necessitated by it.  However, I am saying that there has been no change to the relevant tax law, which can be easily disproven by posting the relevant legislation.

Who is upset?  I am saying you are wrong to ascribe the payment of VAT to the UK leaving the EU.  An academic argument for the sake of rational discourse.

You may say that I’m wrong to link these two occurrences to us leaving the EU, and for sure you can probably prove it. I know that previously we were charged VAT, and import duty as appropriate to value, on goods purchased from abroad, including on digital purchases - software and such. But the reality for most people who have purchased stuff from outside of GB, who want to carry on doing so, is that there are now extra costs involved, whether it be the addition of VAT (plus admin fees in many cases) to the purchase of a CD or coat or game, or delays whilst RM or DPD, or whoever, wait for the payments to be made. As someone who has regularly, over the years bought and sold collectables over the internet, with partners in many countries, I know personally that the extra costs, and delays, of buying and selling where border tariffs, of whatever kind, are involved can impact heavily on that trade. I gave up selling to the US many years ago and have to think very seriously about buying from there, even more so now. And unfortunately I don’t think I can competitively sell into Europe anymore. And trust me the UK market is ... how can I say this, p*ss poor. 

And no, I’m not assuming that the changes made was necessitated by Brexit, I’m saying that our Government chose to use that point to tell everyone to ante-up. If we hadn’t taken this route then I very much doubt we would be having this conversation. I also doubt that the price of the game we play would have increased. Are the changes linked to Brexit, nah it’s just housekeeping. But hey-ho ain’t it grand.

 

 

[Lucky_Strike]

1 hour ago, Erwin said:

Brexit was part of the "protest" by workers primarily in the NE and Wales who have not benefited (and indeed suffered) from the effects of globalization and other open border policies of the EU (as also in the US).  Whether or not they will benefit from Brexit, certainly there are a lot of very angry lower-income/working class folks who feel betrayed... and they aren't going anywhere.  If things do not improve for them, the next election could be ugly.

Partly Erwin, but don’t forget all the xenophobia that was at the core of a lot of votes to leave ...

[The Steppenwulf]

25 minutes ago, Lucky_Strike said:

And no, I’m not assuming that the changes made was necessitated by Brexit, I’m saying that our Government chose to use that point to tell everyone to ante-up. If we hadn’t taken this route then I very much doubt we would be having this conversation.

Yep I think that's a interesting 'what if' question too, but as I say the Govt don't care about the actual cost (directly to the British taxpayer in increased HMRC overheads, or at the feet of the consumer with inflated costs on software/digital products) when there is a matter of political expediency at the heart of this particular venture. 

[Lucky_Strike]

4 minutes ago, The Steppenwulf said:

Yep I think that's a interesting 'what if' question too, but as I say the Govt don't care about the actual cost (directly to the British taxpayer in increased HMRC overheads, or at the feet of the consumer with inflated costs on software/digital products) when there is a matter of political expediency at the heart of this particular venture. 

For sure, and as we’ve seen with this government, and doubtless will with future governments of any persuasion, they are willing to break their own promises and destroy their own supporters and members to cling to power and achieve their private agendas.

[Vacillator]

2 hours ago, Erwin said:

Brexit was part of the "protest" by workers primarily in the NE and Wales

In the interests of balance, I'm not sure this tells the full story as the South West, North West, South East (not London) etc. all voted to leave (there are a lot of maps clearly showing this online). 

Just saying, not saying I like it.  And now I'm going back to refraining.

 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Vacilllator

[Warts 'n' all]

Being 400 years old it is normally my job to bang on about things that have nowt to do with CM. If anyone else does it then they owe me copyright. From now on it a a groat a go.

In the meantime I hope that you are all looking forward to the 30th, Happy Chas Bonce Napping Day.

[Vacillator]

2 minutes ago, Warts 'n' all said:

it is normally my job to bang on about things that have nowt to do with CM

And perhaps we should all leave it to you.  I am happy to in this circumstance as there are certainly fewer groats to go around now .

[fireship4]

6 hours ago, The Steppenwulf said:

The whole idea being essentially protectionist by taking away an advantage some imported goods were enjoying.

Enforcing VAT only on domestic products when it applies to all would be opposite of protectionist, and remedying that should not be cast as protectionist.  However, no changes that would apply to the digital sale of the game have in fact been made.  Any changes to import of the game physically are changed to the point at which VAT is charged, and would only affect someone who was evading tax in the first instance.

 

39 minutes ago, Lucky_Strike said:

But the reality for most people who have purchased stuff from outside of GB, who want to carry on doing so, is that there are now extra costs involved, whether it be the addition of VAT (plus admin fees in many cases) to the purchase of a CD or coat or game, or delays whilst RM or DPD, or whoever, wait for the payments to be made.

 

10 hours ago, Lucky_Strike said:

Again, nobody is saying that LVRC is applicable to buying CMWE, I was just drawing attention to the fact that it no longer applies to anything, as of 1 Jan, make of that what you will, I am pretty certain that I know why it’s stopped.

We are talking about the game, to which no new charges apply.  However I will say again that VAT has not been added to anything.  The relief for consignments under £15 has been removed, the EU will be doing the same thing in July 2021, so it would be disingenuous to say it happened because we left the EU.  You have not mentioned any specific charges that have changed, VAT nor customs.  These non-existing changes are here being related to a narrative of protectionism and making leaving the EU look better, I am not interested in speculating on this.

 

10 hours ago, Lucky_Strike said:

As to whether VAT was included or not in the game price BEFORE 1 Jan and is added on top of the price now, well let me see, before it was $60, now it’s $72, either BF didn’t have to charge VAT, didn’t want to charge it, didn’t care to charge it, or it was included in the price, and now they are going to charge it. What’s changed since 1 Jan ... let me see ... ooh can’t mention that might cause an upset.

Battlefront has always had to pay VAT, and it had to be charged at the point of sale on the digital product, unless someone can show a relevant exemption.  If you are correct that the 20% increase is VAT (again this is not obviously correct as you suggest) then that would suggest Battlefront had not been meeting this requirement up to now.

 

6 hours ago, Grey_Fox said:

The only people who benefit in this additional taxation are the handful who can't compete with foreign goods. Everyone else suffers by having to pay higher prices. That's why free trade is good and I can't understand why people think that limiting cheaper imports is a good thing. Cheap imports increases peoples' spending power, which makes people better of.

I don't get why people think international free trade agreements were causing some sort of tax fraud. This new tax is an example of double taxation - taxes were already being paid at the point of sale, and now people in the UK are having to pay VAT on imports on arrival. People in the EU now also have to pay local VAT on British exports too.

What additional taxation?  Again VAT is applicable to all goods, and customs duty was present before.  No-one here has said a free-trade agreement is tax fraud, nor is VAT being charged twice - it is either charged at the point of sale or on import, or deferred to a later date, and can be reclaimed if the product is sold on.  I will avoid discussing economic theory with you, this discussion is too broad already.

 

Can we plese try to narrow this discussion back down, and sharpen it up.  We were discussing the reason for the 20% increase in price of the game in question for customers in the UK.  Rambling paragraphs with unsubstantiated or vague assertions should be avoided.  Discussion of the benefits or otherwise of one or another trade policy should in my opinion be avoided also.

 

[Vacillator]

I agree, so let's summarise.  I think Elvis said it best when he said:

On 1/16/2021 at 6:34 PM, BFCElvis said:

On 1/13/2021 at 1:02 PM, Grey_Fox said:

Is this a brexit-related tariff?

Yes. It is new and was just added in the past week or so for UK purchases only (unfortunately both digital and physical purchases)