Re: CallWithUs

[Richmond]

I spent some time searching on the website but couldn't find any street
address, nor any mention of whether prices include VAT.

Then I found:

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/callwithus.com

[David Woolley]

On 14/07/2021 22:32, Anthony R. Gold wrote:
> P.S. They would not know abut let alone collect UK VAT.

It looks to me as though, if you are a business, they must charge VAT:
<https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-place-of-supply-of-services-notice-741a#sec14#how-the-use-and-enjoyment-rules-work>.
It's not so clear in the consumer case. You as the customer being in
England means that VAT applies, but it is not so clear as to whether an
overseas supplier has to charge it.

[David Woolley]

On 14/07/2021 23:36, David Woolley wrote:
> It looks to  me as though, if you are a business, they must charge VAT:
> <https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-place-of-supply-of-services-notice-741a#sec14#how-the-use-and-enjoyment-rules-work>.
>  It's not so clear in the consumer case.  You as the customer being in
> England means that VAT applies, but it is not so clear as to whether an
> overseas supplier has to charge it.

It looks like the practice is more complex. They probably don't have to
worry about VAT, but you have to account for the VAT as though you'd
sold the service, a process called a reverse charge, e.g.
<https://www.finance.admin.cam.ac.uk/policy-and-procedures/financial-procedures/chapter-9-vat-and-other-taxes/purchasing-services-outside>.

It's possible that a closer reading will show that only VAT registered
businesses end up doing paying, and most of them can reclaim it as input
tax, but some can't which is why it is done, to endure that foreign
suppliers don't have an advantage.

[Chris Green]

Anthony R. Gold <not-fo...@ahjg.co.uk> wrote:

> That is a weird review.
>
> CallWithUs is neither fraudulent not is it connected with Pakistan. It is a
> very long-established US family-run VOIP service provider located in Cape
> Coral Florida. I've been using them for over 10 years. Some nicer parts of
> their calling services are no monthly charges (you only pay for the calls
> you make) easy CLI configuration and a tariff that gives totally free calls
> to USA 1-800 type numbers. The fact that they receive their payments via
> PayPal should give the lie to any concern that they are some kind of scam.

>
> P.S. They would not know abut let alone collect UK VAT.

No longer true, in a sense anyway, Overseas 'sellers' are expected by
the UK VAT authorities to collect the VAT 'at source' for amounts up
to somewhere around £130.

So, for example, when one buys from AliExpress you get 20% 'tax' added
to the price when you pay. It's bad news for small sellers IMHO as
they have to go through the rigmarole of registering with HMRC in the
UK just to sell a few small items to the UK. If they're not
registered and VAT hasn't been collected at source then (I assume) the
goods won't get to the buyer.

--
Chris Green
·

[David Woolley]

On 15/07/2021 09:24, Chris Green wrote:
> It's bad news for small sellers IMHO as
> they have to go through the rigmarole of registering with HMRC in the
> UK just to sell a few small items to the UK.

I believe that both Amazon and E-bay handle the VAT for overseas sellers.

The big problem was that the last time I checked BangGood didn't,
although I haven't checked for a few weeks. They are not, of course, a
small seller.

[Theo]

David Woolley <da...@ex.djwhome.demon.invalid> wrote:
> It looks like the practice is more complex. They probably don't have to
> worry about VAT, but you have to account for the VAT as though you'd
> sold the service, a process called a reverse charge, e.g.
> <https://www.finance.admin.cam.ac.uk/policy-and-procedures/financial-procedures/chapter-9-vat-and-other-taxes/purchasing-services-outside>.
>
> It's possible that a closer reading will show that only VAT registered
> businesses end up doing paying, and most of them can reclaim it as input
> tax, but some can't which is why it is done, to endure that foreign
> suppliers don't have an advantage.

One thing to bear in mind from that link is the University is an
end-consumer as far as VAT is concerned. Most of its operations (education
and research) are not VAT-able outputs, and hence it has to pay VAT to
upstream suppliers but can't reclaim it because it doesn't sell very much
that has a customer paying VAT.

It may be different in a business which is reselling widgets so
VAT received in = VAT paid out + markup.

Theo

[David Woolley]

On 15/07/2021 12:42, Theo wrote:
> One thing to bear in mind from that link is the University is an
> end-consumer as far as VAT is concerned. Most of its operations (education
> and research) are not VAT-able outputs, and hence it has to pay VAT to

I used that link because it was the clearest description. There was
another one giving similar information, but from a professional adviser
type point of view (chartered accountant):

<https://www.streetsweb.co.uk/advice/2018/sep/24/vat-and-reverse-charge-services-purchased-overseas/>

[Chris Green]

David Woolley <da...@ex.djwhome.demon.invalid> wrote:
> On 15/07/2021 09:24, Chris Green wrote:
> > It's bad news for small sellers IMHO as
> > they have to go through the rigmarole of registering with HMRC in the
> > UK just to sell a few small items to the UK.
>
> I believe that both Amazon and E-bay handle the VAT for overseas sellers.
>

Yes, for sellers operating through those marketplaces (and AliExpress
as I said) the marketplace handles the VAT. However for a small
independent seller it's not so easy.

--
Chris Green
·