*********** Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 10:11:15 -0700 From: Norman MacLeod <gaelwolfat_private> Organization: Gaelic Wolf Consulting To: declanat_private Subject: Message I sent to the Register author on the EU tax silliness... Declan -- Thought you might find this of interest...it's what I sent to the Register author who wrote the piece on the EU expecting me to collect their VAT for them... ...Didn't we win a bit of a rebellion over this sort of thing a couple of hundred years ago? Norman MacLeod ================================= Mr. Cullen -- Regarding your article on the EU trying to turn U.S. businesses into EU tax collectors... http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/23/18430.html You maintain that the US has no room to "preach" because it doesn't recognize international boundaries where US citizens and US businesses are concerned. That, sir, is precisely the point. Those US citizens and the companies are represented in the governmental bodies that authorize the collection of taxes. If you would think back a bit, this was one of the central themes in a wee tiff a few more than two hundred years ago...and that snarlyguster resulted in the separation of a large chunk of North America from the British Crown. I am not represented in any EU member government. I do not have a physical location in the EU Therefore, the EU has no legal authority over me in regard to turning me into a tax collector on the EU's behalf. If the EU decides that the computer terminal at which one of its citizens orders from me becomes a valid physical location for the point of sale, then it's the proprietor at the physical location who is responsible for paying the tax...that would happen to be the EU citizen, would it not? After all, although I may be making the sale to him or her, I am not the one who opened the point of sale location... As for such an action on the EU's part placing me on an even footing with my EU counterparts, I have a question for you... When did EU businesses begin collecting sales taxes for each of the US states that have sales taxes? I see a couple of alternatives here... First, if the EU wants to collect VAT on electronic products purchased from a business entity located in the US, then the EU can figure out a way to do that once the purchase enters the EU. If the EU's privacy laws prevent this through the electronic purchasing system, then it's up to the EU to figure out what to do about it. If the EU wants to consider the EU citizen's privacy paramount in this regard, then the EU better not try to turn me into a tattle-tale on its behalf...that would be a violation of the EU citizen's privacy, after all.. If the EU feels it cannot trust its citizens in this regard, that's not my problem The EU's tax system can't handle this internally? Not my problem. I have enough government paperwork to take care of already...I don't need the EU's, too. If that's not good enough for the EU, then the European Parliament can decide whether or not it wants to pass a law banning my goods from all EU countries. I might not like it...but I'm still not going to become a tax collector for the EU. ...Of course, if the EU were to do that, I wouldn't be buying anything produced in the EU, either. Thank you very much for your time and for your interest in reading my message. Norman MacLeod Port Townsend, Washington ========================== GAELIC WOLF CONSULTING http://www.gaelwolf.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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