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Why is Dropbox charging Irish VAT to UK customers?
The UK left the EU to all intents and purposes on 1 January 2021. Businesses providing digital services to Britain from outside Britain are obliged to register for British VAT from that date and ...
Hi Mark thanks for reply
When you say e-commerce is catching up, do you mean we are right that EU VAT should not be charged on services to end users outside the EU
I run a business where we export and import goods - Before Brexit my French End Users would pay UK VAT on our products, but French BUSINESSES would give me their French VAT Number which allowed us to Zero VAT (Intra EU VAT Rate 0%) - They would of course charge French VAT to their end users.
Since Brexit their is no VAT on any of our exports - The 'Z' Zero Rate is applied
I suspect Dropbox are collecting VAT from us, then their internal accounting system is applying Zero export VAT therefore not handing it over to the Irish VAT authorities - I could be wrong of course 🙂
I 'X'ed (Twittered) Dropbox yesterday, and they referred me to the email chain - I'll post back here if I get anywhere - Probably won't
I have the same issue, and twice I have queried why Dublin (EU) VAT was being charged to me in UK. This year I got an obscure reply, which included:
'Certain non-profit or educational institutions can receive tax exemptions on rgw Dropbox team and Professional subscriptions. However, we're unable to offer tax exemptions for Dropbox Plus subscriptions at this time.
Please note that our Plus subscription is a product for personal use rather than a business product, we are obliged to charge tax on it in certain jurisdictions. We are also unable to exclude this from your payment.
You may be able to use the invoice found in your account to claim tax back from your tax authority but unfortunately we can’t exempt your account from tax or refund the tax paid.
Dropbox Plus invoices are created in such a way that we cannot adjust the billing information displayed.'
Our accounts team flagged this when it first happened, and because the VAT amount is £16.53 it does not warrant hours of our time dealing with Dropbox 'support', which seems impenetrable. Other US Dublin-based software and IT companies, for example Adobe, issue correct 'tax exempt' invoices to UK clients. If there is a loophole we are missing, and their invoicing is correct, then I would be grateful if this can be explained to those of us in UK who are staring at our screens, unable to locate their GB VAT number.
What a master lesson in obfuscation and avoidance their response is!
