Seeing that you closed the topic I raised elsewhere, maybe correcting a few facts time.

As advertised, the last Aerosoft Sale was 20% only. Yes, I am fully aware that irrespective of sale or no sale that VAT/GST gets charged whatever the rates are, but surely a 20% sale followed by a 20% claw-back due to VAT/GST, is far less a so-called bargain compared to a sale at say, 30%.

?  Didn't see the other thread, but it's still 20 percent less than you would have paid before... or slightly more, since the vat is charged st the reduced rate.  I imagine, and this is just a guess, that your comparison is due to possibly buying it from a web shop in other areas of the world that don't charge the vat that you would pay buying in Europe?  If so, I'm not sure that aerosoft needs to be sensitive to the needs of small scale tax evasion when they set their sale prices.  They can't help it, they have to follow the law, and they can't do anything about it   Sure, 30 percent is better, but it is what it is.

Here in Portugal is charged 23% VAT, but I can't blame Aerosoft for what is decided by the portuguese gangsters.. I mean politicians...

I for one, will not coughing up to Aerosoft in one hand and then it being taken back from the other hand, no more, whatever their sale is, be it 20% or 40%. That's strictly my choice, as a buyer.

1 hour ago, ShawnG said:

?  Didn't see the other thread

 

14 minutes ago, vc10man said:

I for one, will not coughing up to Aerosoft in one hand and then it being taken back from the other hand, no more, whatever their sale is, be it 20% or 40%. That's strictly my choice, as a buyer.

It's pretty normal to pay taxes. 😉 You do it every day, though you may not always notice it. 😉 Here is an explanation of what VAT exactly is.

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/vat/what-is-vat_en

In short: that 20% discount still is a 20% discount. You just have to keep in mind that the prices you see online may not yet include tax so you have to add it in order to calculate the full price of the product. Nothing odd going on here. As I said, you pay taxes on products every day.

Yes, Jeroen, thanks for the elucidation. I am more than fully aware that about taxes, VAT, etc, etc. I live in a country that has seen politicians say one thing about reduced VAT come election time then hike it up once in power

I just did not think that Aerosoft had made it obviously clear that VAT would be added on top, after I had paid for the so-called 'discount sale'. Had that been made clear, I would have steered clear of Aerosoft, which I will be doing henceforth,

6 minutes ago, vc10man said:

I just did not think that Aerosoft had made it obviously clear that VAT would be added on top, after I had paid for the so-called 'discount sale'. Had that been made clear, I would have steered clear of Aerosoft, which I will be doing henceforth,

So AFTER the purchase was done and you had paid for it you somehow had to pay extra...? So you got charged afterwards? Afaik VAT should have been added BEFORE you completed the actual purchase, giving you the change to reconsider...?

Im not trying to be smart Rick so please take no offence but was the Total price on the checkout page the actual amount you paid? or are you saying VAT was only added after the transaction had started

That’s why I buy from an American site that doesn’t charge VAT.

Strictly speaking if you don't live in the EU then you shouldn't be paying VAT.

Follow the link in the post by J van E and you will see in the first paragraph: " Thus, goods which are sold for export or services which are sold to customers abroad are normally not subject to VAT."

I guess it depends on the term "normally".

1 hour ago, cowpatz said:

Strictly speaking if you don't live in the EU then you shouldn't be paying VAT.

Follow the link in the post by J van E and you will see in the first paragraph: " Thus, goods which are sold for export or services which are sold to customers abroad are normally not subject to VAT."

I guess it depends on the term "normally".

I always wondered for the EU customers. If they use a VPN that creates a US based IP, do EU shops still charge the VAT since the IP wouldn’t register as an EU IP?

If that were the case, what would stop EU costumers from always buying downloadable content using a VPN with a non-UE IP?

1 hour ago, cmpbellsjc said:

I always wondered for the EU customers. If they use a VPN that creates a US based IP, do EU shops still charge the VAT since the IP wouldn’t register as an EU IP?

I inagine it would rather depend on the store front technology. If you declare your billing/shipping addresses as being within the EU, you pay with an EU card/bank account, I imagine that would probably be enough to determine that you are in fact an EU customer, regardless of your IP.

3 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

That’s why I buy from an American site that doesn’t charge VAT.

Strictly speaking of course even US based sellers are supposed to ensure that VAT is paid at the appropriate rate for all sales to the EU.

What I will say is that I don't like paying taxes any more than the next guy, but at the end of the day businesses are bound to comply with the law. Do we really want to lose all our locally-based companies by sending all our cash off to less scrupulous retailers in the States or wherever in the name of dodging a bit of VAT?

8 hours ago, vc10man said:

surely a 20% sale followed by a 20% claw-back due to VAT/GST, is far less a so-called bargain compared to a sale at say, 30%.

But it's not a "20% claw-back". That would be the case if you were paying no VAT on the original figure. But that's not the case - you would have paid an extra 20% on top of the original price. 

E.g.: product retails for £40 ex-VAT. Total regular price including 20% VAT  £48, of which £40 goes to the vendor and £8 to the taxman.

However, if there is a 20% off sale, the ex-VAT price is now £32. You pay £38.40 inc VAT, which the vendor sees £32 of and the taxman gets £6.40 of. Overall this is £9.60 less than the regular price of £48, a decrease of 20%.

3 hours ago, skelsey said:

Strictly speaking of course even US based sellers are supposed to ensure that VAT is paid at the appropriate rate for all sales to the EU.

What I will say is that I don't like paying taxes any more than the next guy, but at the end of the day businesses are bound to comply with the law. Do we really want to lose all our locally-based companies by sending all our cash off to less scrupulous retailers in the States or wherever in the name of dodging a bit of VAT?

No, I don't think that's correct about VAT/sales tax collection across the pond.  I don't know of any strictly US-based retailers collecting VAT for the EU, nor do I know of any EU-based retailers collecting US sales tax.

Now, if your company has presence in both venues, or you use a billing service located in the other or both venues, the rules may well change.

I don't think that a US retailer selling downloads to EU customers without collecting VAT is at all unscrupulous, just as the large european software houses sell to US customers without collecting sales tax.

Regards