Prevx Edge Question.

If these are credit card company charges I suspect there's little Prevx can do apart perhaps from warning potential customers and recommending Paypal as you suggest?

 

Correct, hence my recommendation to use billing companies that do not require purchasers to use international transactions or at the very least like you said advise customers ahread of time that their credit card companies will charge an extra fee based on where they are ordering from, obviously I would prefer the former.

 

IMO, you are absolutely correct, by my own experience. When I found out about the additional charge and brought it to Prevx's attention, after they checked it out there wasn't a thing they could do about it. This is STRICTLY the credit card charge, not the vendors. Using Paypal is just like using cash, once the deal is done its final!

 

Shouldn't the VAT only apply to European/Canadian orders? It does not apply to US orders. Why isn't it deducted?

 

Don't know where you got this info. I live in Mobile, Al., and Visa charged me the fee!

 

I used PayPal and I didn't get that extra charge!

TH

 

I believe the answer is Yes/Possibly, It might apply indirectly (see below) and nothing to deduct because it should be zero rated in the context of the original poster-

So if you indeed referring to the example I posted then I apologise if I unintentionally obfuscated my reply to the original posters question regarding "an international charge fee" by posting an example that included VAT. I was merely trying to ascertain whether the "fee in question" was charged by the billing agent (ie Cleverbridge) or the actual credit card company?

Whether "international charge fees" are synonymous with "merchants charges" and whether these include one or more specific custom duties,local taxes, administration charges(eg a "handling charge" between international banks), currency conversion commission etc is not abundantly clear from the original description and I respectfully suggest that an in depth discussion of VAT is probably also outside the scope of this forum.

However, at the risk of further encouraging an off topic digression the fact remains that:

1. PREVX is a UK based "established" company and is therefore required by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs to provide (or make available upon request) auditable accounts that detail VAT (in line with European Financial Directives) and also include details of sales made to non EEC countries that are typically "zero rated".

2. VAT in this context is a "consumer based" tax but is collected from or via the Seller.

3. If "distance" selling includes a purchaser that does not reside within a country that is party to the European Financial Directorate then the VAT charge element should be zero rated. Conversely if the purchaser is liable to the VAT rate of the "member country" (and to the "rate" applicable to the goods or services) then these VAT rates may/will vary and appropriate rates must be detailed within the accounts.

4. Since I'm a UK resident then I'm not able to avoid paying VAT(unless perhaps if I was VAT registered and reselling qualifying goods &/or services) and as such Cleverbridge correctly included a VAT element in the invoice example I attached in my post. (That said I still have'nt reconciled the stated 19% versus 15% typical current UK VAT rate unless it's based on Cleverbridge's German office default rate because I hadn't entered a UK address at that point in the invoicing cycle!)
However I also note with interest that according to HMRC rules, any VAT element must be detailed in it's equivalent Sterling amount even when invoiced in a foreign currency. Clearly in my example Cleverbridge appear not to be compliant in this regard (and therefore not at all "clever"!!<vbg>)

5. Unsurprisingly VAT is a complex issue and even HMRC has problems interpreting it as evidenced by numerous legal appeals and a raft of ongoing EC directives that attempt to rationalise and promote consistency between member states and also to encompass modern e-commerce based systems and software services etc including unfair competitive issues occasioned by "merchants charges".


To finally return to the original posters "point" the "fee" in question appears to be a credit company charge which probably doesn't include any element of VAT in this respect (as some "banking services are typically exempt) but I suggest is still irrelevant and not within PREVX's capability to influence in whole or part. Also Cleverbridge have a USA office so may well be defined as a US Billing agent anyway.

 

The VAT should NOT be charged to U.S. customers. It is just another way of this company ripping off U.S. customers.

 

The charge was NOT a VAT for my purchase as the U.S. is not a Socialist Country (yet), it was a MasterCard charge as the billing company is located in a foreign Country (Germany I believe) and credit card companies do it all the time.

I do NOT see PrevX ripping anyone off in the U.S. and as has been stated I could've used payPal (which I don't) and not been charged the MasterCard fee. As I posted earlier, I would like to see a them use a billing company in the U.S. for U.S. residents or at the very least advise U.S. customers ahead of time to make that decision, obviously this would require Cleverbridge to make that notification on their website.

 

Hmmm, almost sounds American, dont it.

 

The VAT tax is not a Mastercard Fee. That is a separate fee for foreign purchases.

 

Exactly!

 

Prevx could use a merchant which allows multiple currency, worldpay for example. There are loads.