Important VAT changes within the European Union
If your business provides or receives services from outside the UK, you should be aware of the changes, which take effect from 1 January 2010. From this date, the general rule for all business- to- business services will be that the service is taxable in the country where the recipient of the service is established.
This could mean that when you render a service to a business in another EU Member State you will have to levy VAT in that country and you will have to register for VAT in there. The changes will affect all UK businesses that make taxable supplies of services to business customers in other European Union (EU) countries where the customer is required to account for VAT under the 'reverse charge' procedure.
The exceptions to the general rule are services, such as supply of services in relation to real estate, short term hiring of transport, restaurant and catering services and passenger transportation. The place of supply of cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, educational and similar services will be changed in 2011 rather than from 2010.
The change has an important consequence: each supplier of services will have to file with its own tax authority a list of taxable supplies of services to recipients in other Member States and the tax authorities will share this information.
In 2010 the procedure for refund of foreign VAT will also change. From 2010, foreign VAT can be reclaimed through the EU Member State tax authority where the business or recipient is established. For this purpose, each Member State will have an electronic portal, providing details of the VAT paid in other EU Member States.
Checking to see if a VAT registration number is valid
A service provided by The European Commission allows you to check the validity of a VAT number for a business based in any EU country. The service allows you to check online whether a VAT number that you have been given is valid. If the VAT number is valid, you can print off the result of the search and retain it as proof to show that you checked that a VAT registration number was valid at a given time and date. The certificate will provide valuable evidence to show that you acted in good faith should HMRC challenge input tax recovery or seek payment of lost VAT.
The European Commission's online VAT number validation service is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/vieshome.do?selectedLanguage=EN
To check whether a UK VAT number is valid, you can also call the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) VAT Helpline on 0845 010 9000. The lines are open from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm Monday to Friday.
Will the Future of Advertising Be a Blend of Old and New Media?
Large companies are surprisingly slow at taking advantages of the emerging advertising opportunities through social networks. But do they really deliver better results? Many marketers believe in combining old and new media in a portfolio-driven approach that delivers strong results across different consumer segments...read more....
Over half of the most popular websites use cookies you can´t opt out from...
Over 50% of the 100 most popular web sites use a type of surreptitious cookie without their knowledge. Cookies are tiny text files which identify a computer to a server as a unique user when the user visits certain pages. They are stored on the computer's hard drive.
A recent survey shows that there is code in Adobe's popular Flash media player which can track users' online behaviour. That code is just like standard cookies, except that it is not stored on the user's browser and so it is very hard to stop, even for users who have deleted standard cookies. 54 of the 100 web sites researched used Flash cookies but only four of them mentioned this in their privacy policies. The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 prohibit the storing of information on a user's computer unless they are given clear and comprehensive information about the purposes of the storage of or access to that information and are given the opportunity to refuse the storage of or access to that information. Based on the research by the University of California, many web sites appear to be in breach of this law.
Story link: http://www.out-law.com/page-10385
------------------------------------------------------
Google´s Plan To Put All Books Online Hits The Buffers...
Google's plan to create a database of all books online has hit problems. It had so far tried to reach out-of-court settlement with authors and publishers that sued the Internet search giant over its plans. The settlement would have enabled Google in the US to deal with books that were either out of print or orphaned (which is where the copyright owner cannot be traced). However, the US Department of Justice has opposed the proposed settlement saying that this should not be done through a settlement between parties but legislation should be passed.
Meanwhile, the European Commission is consulting on how to operate a digital library of scanned-in books in Europe. However, unlike Google's controversial scheme, the Commission's project, Europeana, does not scan in any works which are still protected by copyright. The Commission is looking for views from industry and the public as to operating its €3m per year project. The Europeana project has been inhibited by its non-use of out of print works, which represent a significant proportion of publications.
Stroy link:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/digital_libraries/doc/communications/next_steps_2009/questions_en.pdf
-------------------------------------------------------------------
£1 Million boost to help young people turn their enterprise ideas into businesses
Young people with enterprising ambitions were given a £1 million boost today to help turn their ideas into businesses.
The £1 million from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will enable youth charity, The Prince's Trust, to help 630 unemployed young people enroll in its new ‘Be Enterprising’ course. The courses comprise a taster day to identify those young people who are interested and could benefit from the training. This is followed by a 4 day course during which time participants are encouraged to explore the viability of their business ideas. The 4 day course can also contribute towards an OCR Level 2 or 3 qualification in Business Enterprise.
Projections are that, as a result of the funding, 195 young people will to go onto start a business with The Prince’s Trust; 79 will go onto start a business independently of The Trust’s financial support but with mentoring support and a further 202 will move into other work/education/training.
Story link:
http://www.whitehallpages.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=255413
If your business provides or receives services from outside the UK, you should be aware of the changes, which take effect from 1 January 2010. From this date, the general rule for all business- to- business services will be that the service is taxable in the country where the recipient of the service is established.
This could mean that when you render a service to a business in another EU Member State you will have to levy VAT in that country and you will have to register for VAT in there. The changes will affect all UK businesses that make taxable supplies of services to business customers in other European Union (EU) countries where the customer is required to account for VAT under the 'reverse charge' procedure.
The exceptions to the general rule are services, such as supply of services in relation to real estate, short term hiring of transport, restaurant and catering services and passenger transportation. The place of supply of cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, educational and similar services will be changed in 2011 rather than from 2010.
The change has an important consequence: each supplier of services will have to file with its own tax authority a list of taxable supplies of services to recipients in other Member States and the tax authorities will share this information.
In 2010 the procedure for refund of foreign VAT will also change. From 2010, foreign VAT can be reclaimed through the EU Member State tax authority where the business or recipient is established. For this purpose, each Member State will have an electronic portal, providing details of the VAT paid in other EU Member States.
Checking to see if a VAT registration number is valid
A service provided by The European Commission allows you to check the validity of a VAT number for a business based in any EU country. The service allows you to check online whether a VAT number that you have been given is valid. If the VAT number is valid, you can print off the result of the search and retain it as proof to show that you checked that a VAT registration number was valid at a given time and date. The certificate will provide valuable evidence to show that you acted in good faith should HMRC challenge input tax recovery or seek payment of lost VAT.
The European Commission's online VAT number validation service is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/vieshome.do?selectedLanguage=EN
To check whether a UK VAT number is valid, you can also call the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) VAT Helpline on 0845 010 9000. The lines are open from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm Monday to Friday.
Will the Future of Advertising Be a Blend of Old and New Media?
Large companies are surprisingly slow at taking advantages of the emerging advertising opportunities through social networks. But do they really deliver better results? Many marketers believe in combining old and new media in a portfolio-driven approach that delivers strong results across different consumer segments...read more....
Over half of the most popular websites use cookies you can´t opt out from...
Over 50% of the 100 most popular web sites use a type of surreptitious cookie without their knowledge. Cookies are tiny text files which identify a computer to a server as a unique user when the user visits certain pages. They are stored on the computer's hard drive.
A recent survey shows that there is code in Adobe's popular Flash media player which can track users' online behaviour. That code is just like standard cookies, except that it is not stored on the user's browser and so it is very hard to stop, even for users who have deleted standard cookies. 54 of the 100 web sites researched used Flash cookies but only four of them mentioned this in their privacy policies. The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 prohibit the storing of information on a user's computer unless they are given clear and comprehensive information about the purposes of the storage of or access to that information and are given the opportunity to refuse the storage of or access to that information. Based on the research by the University of California, many web sites appear to be in breach of this law.
Story link: http://www.out-law.com/page-10385
------------------------------------------------------
Google´s Plan To Put All Books Online Hits The Buffers...
Google's plan to create a database of all books online has hit problems. It had so far tried to reach out-of-court settlement with authors and publishers that sued the Internet search giant over its plans. The settlement would have enabled Google in the US to deal with books that were either out of print or orphaned (which is where the copyright owner cannot be traced). However, the US Department of Justice has opposed the proposed settlement saying that this should not be done through a settlement between parties but legislation should be passed.
Meanwhile, the European Commission is consulting on how to operate a digital library of scanned-in books in Europe. However, unlike Google's controversial scheme, the Commission's project, Europeana, does not scan in any works which are still protected by copyright. The Commission is looking for views from industry and the public as to operating its €3m per year project. The Europeana project has been inhibited by its non-use of out of print works, which represent a significant proportion of publications.
Stroy link:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/digital_libraries/doc/communications/next_steps_2009/questions_en.pdf
-------------------------------------------------------------------
£1 Million boost to help young people turn their enterprise ideas into businesses
Young people with enterprising ambitions were given a £1 million boost today to help turn their ideas into businesses.
The £1 million from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will enable youth charity, The Prince's Trust, to help 630 unemployed young people enroll in its new ‘Be Enterprising’ course. The courses comprise a taster day to identify those young people who are interested and could benefit from the training. This is followed by a 4 day course during which time participants are encouraged to explore the viability of their business ideas. The 4 day course can also contribute towards an OCR Level 2 or 3 qualification in Business Enterprise.
Projections are that, as a result of the funding, 195 young people will to go onto start a business with The Prince’s Trust; 79 will go onto start a business independently of The Trust’s financial support but with mentoring support and a further 202 will move into other work/education/training.
Story link:
http://www.whitehallpages.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=255413
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Entelliz Weekly Newsletter - Issue 39, 2009
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YOUR RANT...
I like shopping online, especially for electronic goods, as good e-commerce sites can give me considerably more feedback on the product's technical specification, user friendliness, etc. than I am able to get in most high street stores. And of course the customer reviews, which is still sort of belive in.
Of the many e-stores, Amazon has above avearge number of reviews, and humorous ones are common with some of the more odd products on its site. Here is a fabulous customer review about a perfectly ordinary while simply fabulous product, which will makes you buy, buy, buy and laugh, laugh, laugh...read more... (When you reach the page you need to scroll far-far down to see Customer Reviews!)