Any UK VAT registered ECT users out there who have successfully set up their billing system to deal with VAT and offer VAT exclusive prices to non-EU (Norway, Switzerland), Channel Islands, etc?

Invoices need to show VAT element.

If so, can you please tell us how you did it?

US ECT users - this means I'll be able to sell at 20% cheaper to US customers.

Many thanks in advance

Hi Alistaire,

Can you not just enable VAT for the UK and not for the other countries that you wish to be VAT exempt in the countries admin? That's the usual procedure.



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Hi Phil,

Done that, I was expecting a more complicated solution! I've found anything simple to do with VAT is unnecessarily complicated.

To save a bit of time, is there a way of changing display of prices to clearly show that they are ex VAT (and, if possible, show an inc VAT price for punters - to avoid complaints about adding VAT)?

Many thanks

A.

Yes there is,
Take a look here and make your choice - https://www.ecommercetemplates.com/phphelp/ecommplus/parameters.asp#tax



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I've had the following explanation of pricing from my accountant

1. Display the price as VAT inclusive (e.g £10.00)

2. For EU retail customers then price charged is (Net:£8.33, VAT:£1.47 Gross:£10.00) at a VAT rate of 20%

3. For non-EU retail customers then price charged is (Net:£10.00, VAT:£0.00 Gross:£10.00) at a VAT rate of 0%. It is up to customer to reclaim VAT.

Setting $showtaxinclusive=3; sorts out 1. and 2. but sets (Net:£8.33, VAT:£0.00, Gross:£10.00) when country selected is non-EU. I can't seem to set a tax rate for non-EU country at zero-rated (tax is 0%). It seems to be the age-old computing problem where NULL is a different value from 0.

VAT owed from sales is easily produced from a CSV dump of orders.

$showtaxinclusive=3; is no good for anything.

Any suggestions?

The tax for scenario 3 should be zero if you leave the tax field blank in the countries admin page. Is that what you are doing?

Andy

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All I've done is set tax at 20% for countries (i.e in EU) it applies to. All others are left blank.

Calculation seems to default to separating out net £8.33 and VAT £1.47 to give gross of £10.00.

When a non-EU country is selected (country tax set at blank), it seems to separate out the net £8.33 and then not add VAT.

According to accountant, all customers are charged full price, no matter where they live. Any non-EU customers pay full price but have to reclaim VAT.

I think I must be missing something then. You want everyone for example to be charged £10 for the product. For EU customers that includes the 20% tax but US users are still charged £10 even though there is no tax - is that what you're saying?

Andy

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quote:

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According to accountant, all customers are charged full price, no matter where they live. Any non-EU customers pay full price but have to reclaim VAT.

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That to me then would just say that all EU countries should have TAX / VAT added for their country in the countries admin page.

Vince

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Hi Alistair,

Non EU countries should not be charged VAT.

For accounting puposes however if you need to show VAT on the invoice even when zero, I believe you can add the following to your includes.php file:

$alwaysdisplaycountrytax=TRUE;

Steve

Hi Steved,

What you say is not the advice given to me by my accountant. She says that inc VAT price should be charged to non-EU customers but they have the right to reclaim the VAT. Whether they choose to or not is up to them.

You see places in airports where non-EU tourists can take their receipts and claim back any VAT paid.

I am seeing my accountant on Tuesday so - if you think that is wrong advice, I'll ask her then. I am VAT registered but only sold in UK before. Now going global and hence the problems.

A

Andy, that is the advice I have been given by my accountant. Full price charged but US citizens can reclaim VAT at airport (on production of receipts) when departing EU. Obviously I am not a US (non-EU) citizen so can't say how that is done. Full price charged to EU citizens but is broken down to two parts - ex VAT of £8.33, VAT of £1.47. On a purchase of £10.00, when leaving the EU a US citizen can claim the £1.47 back.

Vince,

That is what I have done. Each EU country tax has been set at 20% (current VAT rate), everything else has been left blank.

Yes, it's wrong advice and steved is completely correct; exports to the US should be zero rated.

The thing you are talking about at the airport is for goods that non-EU citizens may have purchased while physically in the UK. Because while the (five pounds of Stilton, teapot with a picture of the Queen, set of bagpipes, whatever) that I just bought at Harrods should be be zero rated as I am exporting to the US, the vendor isn't going to sell to me in the store free of VAT. Otherwise everyone would just fake an American accent and pay 20% less. But, benevolent chaps that they are, Her Majesty's Customs & Excise will allow you as an outgoing non-EU visitor to retrieve your VAT paid once you are airside at the airport as at that point it's clear that you are indeed leaving the country.

Suggesting that I can realistically reclaim five quids worth of VAT from the west coast of the US is a bit silly really. Am I supposed to register for a VAT number and file a return? What will I even do with a check denominated in pounds sterling when it arrives months later?

Peter

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Peter, you have that teapot with the picture of the Queen on too.
Isn’t it lovely!

I’m a bit annoyed you got it 20% cheaper though

Steve

Yes, it is rather splendid. Makes a jolly nice centerpiece for my afternoon tea and crumpets Sorry about the price, but we colonials don't really take all that kindly to paying taxes to the Crown and receiving nothing in return. Seem to recall a bit of a ruckus in Boston Harbor some while back, on the same subject.

Peter

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