If I want to buy Avada, it costs 74,40$…It’s a bit pricey…
Really? Pricey? 74.4$ for the almost a full solution to make a website?
No! Pricey compared to other country non ue buyers that pay 58$ for the same thing!
Good to see this implemented after such a big lead up. Must be a big relief for the devs!
A very serious question, are you having a VAT party?
I really don’t understand this. So if you are not VAT registered and a regular user then you still have to pay the vat amount. I just bought a theme which was priced at $58.00 and when you get to the checkout it is over $70.00
Will have to start limiting my purchases now:-)
Can anyone explain what happends with non-EU authors VAT that envato collect ?
KrownThemes saidthepainterman saidAs for collecting VAT on items from non EU residents not sure that falls under MOSS or should even be allowed. Hopefully authors post their website urls in their profiles and I will buy direct and bypass envato and save 20%. It will be interesting to see how sales go, but given the fact zero noice has been given, I expect a drop in sales across the board.
Notice was given from last year… In the last months they created a lot of blog posts about this.
And about extra VAT for EU authors, all stores are doing it. Haven’t you ever purchased something online? Just try to purchase WinZip for example… You’ll have to pay the price + VAT based on your country. I pay VAT on almost all of my digital purchases outside Envato (hosting, applications, services, etc.).
I see my point has gone right over your head, I MEANT the actual date of implementation e.g instead of just doing add the code for vat to the checkout, they could have said on the 17th of March your countries vat rate will be added to your purchase, not hard is it, I admit it does require some common sense. As regards to hosting etc you’re right however in all cases I had advanced notice and paid several things well in advance to lock in the savings, I would have done that here as well.
To highlight my point, I am seeing people above, who would have bought the avada wordpress theme, as an example, now re considering, had they had notice (banner at top of site a week before implementation, for example, pre warning of the impending changes) I’m confident these people would have purchased based on the fact the cost to them was going to rise.
I realize envato had to add vat, that isn’t my issue, it’s the fact overnight the just sprung it on the site, if they knew a week ago, why not announce it ? They will be liable for vat since the 1st Jan anyway. As for adding vat to non eu authors files, I am not getting that.
LoopsLab saidCan anyone explain what happends with non-EU authors VAT that envato collect ?
VAT is only collected for EU buyers, any other buyers aren’t liable for tax (yet).
So now an EU buyer has to actually pay 20.52$ for an item with a 16$ price tag ? … am I correct ?
FXNinja saidSo now an EU buyer has to actually pay 20.52$ for an item with a 16$ price tag ? … am I correct ?
I don’t think so but I could be wrong. I think it is the VAT rate of the country where your Envato account is registered, so for a $16 item you might pay 21% VAT, IVA etc (depending on where in the EU you live)
One of the main reasons I shop with envato, despite the increasing competition, is price.
There are other factors but an extra 20% on top of WordPress themes will make shopping around more attractive.
Maybe consideration should have been made with splitting the additional tax burden between Envato, Author and Client (1:1:2 ratio for example) would have been fairer.
Yes the VAT is mandatory, but I don’t understand why some narrow minded companies see this as something the client should responsible for. There are other solutions, for example, when one of my US based hosting providers started to add EU VAT they took the hit completely for existing customers.
Maybe Envato has became so big it no longer needs to show any consideration to it’s customers.
Hello natman,
as a German resident I make use of a VAT exemption for small trade and start-ups (This is a very common practice for freelancers right here). So what happens to the VAT which is collected on my items?
Will I have a checkbox to opt-out of VAT collection? 
Best wishes!
BaumannMusic saidHello natman,
as a German resident I make use of a VAT exemption for small trade and start-ups (This is a very common practice for freelancers right here). So what happens to the VAT which is collected on my items?
Will I have a checkbox to opt-out of VAT collection?
Best wishes!
If you have a VAT number, insert it into the checkout when you go to pay and it will add it to all future purchases. This will then remove the vat from your order.
Regards
MigC saidOne of the main reasons I shop with envato, despite the increasing competition, is price.
There are other factors but an extra 20% on top of WordPress themes will make shopping around more attractive.
Maybe consideration should have been made with splitting the additional tax burden between Envato, Author and Client (1:1:2 ratio for example) would have been fairer.
Yes the VAT is mandatory, but I don’t understand why some narrow minded companies see this as something the client should responsible for. There are other solutions, for example, when one of my US based hosting providers started to add EU VAT they took the hit completely for existing customers.
Maybe Envato has became so big it no longer needs to show any consideration to it’s customers.
Prices on Envato are low. This additional tax is something that should be added to base price as it’s called VAT = Value ADDED Tax.
You should not expect that prices are going to be equal for EU customers and non EU customers. VAT should be paid by final customer. Base prices for EU customers should not be reduced to hide VAT.
It’s not something unusual that prices in EU are higher than in USA and people are used to it.
Take a look at Apple prices. For them 1 USD = 1 EUR and they still have a lot of customers.
Anyway I got a feature request: Can we have Author Terms in PDF format as a single all in on document?
Thank you for your patronising answer did you actually read my post?
I never asked to hide vat but to share the new burden by subsidising prices for a limited or permanent period like one of my hosting companies did.
I don’t understand how Apple is relevant here, Envato has one set of global websites with all prices in dollars catering to a global market. Apple is a business to consumer company, it is segmented into regional storefronts and websites with registered offices in the relevent territories.
And one point here that is being missed is that this law applies to businesses supplying digital services to private consumers. I AM NOT A PRIVATE CONSUMER, I am a business that is BELOW the threshold for VAT registration in my EU member country. I am not required to pay VAT on transactions outside the EU, it is actually Envato’s decision whether I pay VAT.
Somebody explain me, why Envato collect VAT from my EU buyers if I’m not from EU? Furthermore, why you put this information on Tax Invoice if I don’t need it at all? Weird.
Regarding a period of subsidation: This new EU ruling was actually in effect since 1st of January, Envato have subsidised this VAT burden in it’s whole for the past 2 and a half months, which is pretty decent of them I’d say
Regarding VAT added to your items & or, VAT added to your purchases: this new ‘micro’ VAT actually comes from a new EU ruling that any digital product bought by an individual from a country in the EU must have that countries VAT ruling applied to the purchase, is it annoying? Yes of course. Are Envato doing anything wrong? No, they’re just following the new rules as set out by the EU courts.
Won’t be getting any more deposits from me now.
With this additional 20% on top of the already inflated increases from January, you have priced yourself well out of the market. Maybe had you have held back from these annual increases you would of got more support. Now a Wordpress theme costs the same as Template Monster.
tommusrhodus saidRegarding a period of subsidation: This new EU ruling was actually in effect since 1st of January, Envato have subsidised this VAT burden in it’s whole for the past 2 and a half months, which is pretty decent of them I’d say
Can’t argue with that, that is a very good point that I had completely missed.
@MigC & @DOGMotionRegarding VAT added to your items & or, VAT added to your purchases: this new ‘micro’ VAT actually comes from a new EU ruling that any digital product bought by an individual from a country in the EU must have that countries VAT ruling applied to the purchase, is it annoying? Yes of course. Are Envato doing anything wrong? No, they’re just following the new rules as set out by the EU courts.
My opinion, and I respectfully admit we do not agree here, is that Envato could do more by allowing businesses to prove their EU business status without a VAT number and with suitable proof (tax documents, company website, commercial documents).
This is relevant because of the fact that I and many others will be paying a tax that legally does not apply to them . For example, EU freelancers under the VAT threshold are not required to pay VAT on these transactions, it is at entirely Envato’s discretion.
MigC saidtommusrhodus saidRegarding a period of subsidation: This new EU ruling was actually in effect since 1st of January, Envato have subsidised this VAT burden in it’s whole for the past 2 and a half months, which is pretty decent of them I’d say
Can’t argue with that, that is a very good point that I had completely missed.
@MigC & @DOGMotionRegarding VAT added to your items & or, VAT added to your purchases: this new ‘micro’ VAT actually comes from a new EU ruling that any digital product bought by an individual from a country in the EU must have that countries VAT ruling applied to the purchase, is it annoying? Yes of course. Are Envato doing anything wrong? No, they’re just following the new rules as set out by the EU courts.
My opinion, and I respectfully admit we do not agree here, is that Envato could do more by allowing businesses to prove their EU business status without a VAT number and with suitable proof (tax documents, company website, commercial documents).
This is relevant because of the fact that I and many others will be paying a tax that legally does not apply to them . For example, EU freelancers under the VAT threshold are not required to pay VAT on these transactions, it is at entirely Envato’s discretion.
Thats’s a good find, indeed envato will need to rework their vat for each country, if indeed freelancers are not required to pay vat if they are under the threshold then it makes a clear case for the fact VAT should not automatically be added to every sale. Also if they are over the threshold, they will have vat number anyway. Envato have just taken a blanket approach, the easy way out. Odd enough when prices went up, they went up around 20%, I wonder why, maybe to cover the vat til they tried to find a solution ?
Instead of putting thought into it, what envato have done is said to themselves, we can’t be bothered working a system based on each countries thresholds, we’ll hit every sale with vat, it makes it easier. In the UK the vat threshold is something over 70k, each country is different, this is the part envato can’t be bothered with,
Once sales take a real hit, we’ll see if they start to use a real system.