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drploktaFor the benefit of the EU, here's how taxing things that are both sold and delivered over the Internet works.
Can we tax them based on the location of the vendor? No, because vendors will simply relocate to a jurisdiction that doesn't tax such transactions (e.g. Amazon in Luxembourg).
Can we tax them based on the location of the purchaser? No, because we never discover the purchaser's location during the process of sale and delivery.
Can we tax them based on the location of the purchaser's IP address? No, because the purchaser can choose to use a proxy or VPN in a jurisdiction that doesn't tax such transactions.
Can we tax them based on the location of the purchaser's payment account? No, because the purchaser can open an account in a jurisdiction that doesn't tax such transactions.
Can we tax them based on the purchaser's self-declared location? No, because the purchaser can lie.
Is there any other way to determine the purchaser's location? Not as far as I know.
Can we harmonise tax rates for any of the above across 194 different countries? Ha ha ha ha ha.
Therefore, such transactions can't be taxed at all, and the EU should simply give up trying, and only tax things that can be unambiguously located within a single taxation jurisdiction.
Can we tax them based on the location of the vendor? No, because vendors will simply relocate to a jurisdiction that doesn't tax such transactions (e.g. Amazon in Luxembourg).
Can we tax them based on the location of the purchaser? No, because we never discover the purchaser's location during the process of sale and delivery.
Can we tax them based on the location of the purchaser's IP address? No, because the purchaser can choose to use a proxy or VPN in a jurisdiction that doesn't tax such transactions.
Can we tax them based on the location of the purchaser's payment account? No, because the purchaser can open an account in a jurisdiction that doesn't tax such transactions.
Can we tax them based on the purchaser's self-declared location? No, because the purchaser can lie.
Is there any other way to determine the purchaser's location? Not as far as I know.
Can we harmonise tax rates for any of the above across 194 different countries? Ha ha ha ha ha.
Therefore, such transactions can't be taxed at all, and the EU should simply give up trying, and only tax things that can be unambiguously located within a single taxation jurisdiction.
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um, sort of (taxing online purchases in the US)
Date: 2014-12-24 11:00 am (UTC)So if I order something online from Sears, which indeed has physical shops in my state, I pay state sales tax. If I buy something at a Sears near me, I pay state and local sales taxes.
OTOH, if I purchse something in a shop and have it shipped out-of-state, I don't have to pay any sales tax. This practice predates online shopping by decades, and I believe it parallels the charging of VAT for (say) British goods shipped to the US.
(IANAE, mind; I just know from experience how things seem to work.)