Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Actually the EU VAT directive which made ebooks liable for VAT in the first place was aimed at music downloads (ie Apple, not Amazon). Ebooks just happen to get caught in it as a by-product.
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The original directive.
The actual implementation, though, reads like a cruise missile gone astray.
Consider Duane's situation:
She has a few dozen books tradpub reverted to her because they weren't interested in selling them. So she arranged a simple sale system where people pay through paypal and get a DRM-free download. Paypal gets a small cut, she gets almost all the sale price and prices the books lower. And she controls the price and customer relationship, adding to her mailing list of fans. She may only make a few thousand dollars a year but money is money and she gets the mailing list on the side. She won't get that going through an aggregator.
Facing unlimited fines, even if somebody spoofs the IP address, she may end up closing the ebook store. So everybody loses, globally.
Amazon, however, gets 30% off her KDP-ed ebook sales and possibly new customers.
And like Baen, she'll have to raise the price to account for Amazon's cut and the rolled in VAT, resulting in much higher prices for her EU readers and probably lower sales because of it.
Multiply by thousands of authors and bands globally.