Seems AM does not want to do anything with tax issues and is acting purely as a payment processor sitting in between you the developer (selling the app) and the customer. But you the developer is selling the app to the end user and should be issuing invoices/receipts according to each countries regulations. So you are *all in business developers* along with all the liabilities so you can sell into each country ;)
It takes companies in the tens of thousands of dollars to setup such structures to sell internationally. Seems you are all left alone in the dark... so the international tax authorities spotlight is over your heads now. I would expect to see a blog soon from AM with what advise they give to the small developer and what AM plans to do to make it easy for developers to sell globally. 30% for just processing a transaction then and not handling the sales & tax issues for developers is quite steep IMHO. Apple takes this cut but relinquishes the developer from such exposure. SlideME does not only sit in the middle as payment processor with their hands up in the air (alike AM silently shouting its not me being liable for my customers/developers taxes...), but acts as a distributor/reseller and one stop shop for all developers needs. So since you developers are issuing the invoice/receipts to your customers, you may need to also collect(for some countries) the whole amount and then pay back to AM the 30% as in some jurisdictions you will not be able to excuse such a 30% as a commission in your books, as the whole amount of sale will need to be considered as part of your income. Check with your accountants to be sure though. Just outlining this possibility as each developer can advise AM what laws exist per country so AM can adapt accordingly as they role out AM in other countries. George On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 6:18 PM, lotusscript <[email protected]> wrote: > > [Quote] Are you selling the app and issuing a receipt/invoice or is > Android Market selling it for you? [/Quote] > > I would be very interested in an official answer to this question. > > > george_c wrote: > > Developers need to be clear and understand if they are the ones > > selling the apps and giving a cut to Android Market. This has totally > > different liabilities from Android Market selling the apps and giving > > a cut to the developer. > > > > So developers, my question is to gauge what your understanding is till > > now: > > > > Are you selling the app and issuing a receipt/invoice or is Android > > Market selling it for you? > > > > George > > > > > > > > On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 5:14 PM, Stone Mirror <[email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > > > If I had to guess, given that it's apparently impossible to buy an > > app from the Android Market in any other currency than dollars, > > that collecting and documenting VAT is another aspect of all of > > this that hasn't actually been thought through. And no, history > > would suggest that you won't get anything like authoritative > > advice here. Which is interesting, all by itself. > > > > (This may not get posted to the android-discuss list--last I > > heard, I was still being "moderated" by Dan Morrill for having > > actually attempted to discuss a news story here...) > > > > On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 7:06 AM, george_c <[email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > > > Noticing some problems discussed but are minor compared to > > what I see being the biggest one that developers are put under > > the spotlight pertaining to sales tax charges such as VAT. Who > > sells the app (AM or developers?), if VAT is applied, is it > > clearly stated on invoice/receipt so end user can claim it > > back? If VAT is charged who collects it and submits to > > authorities? Ok, its mentioned developer handles sales tax > > issues as you have stated, but do inform what they need to do > > for their own good before all developers get into trouble with > > the tax authorities. > > > > Just a note to all developers, if you are the one selling the > > apps and issuing some form of receipt/invoice to end users, > > you must collect and register for VAT so to be able to submit > > the VAT amounts you have collected in each and every EU state. > > > > Get some independent advise ASAP. Doesn't seem like you are > > going to get it from here. > > > > What needs to be cleared if you the developer is selling the > > app and giving a cut to Android Market or is Android Market > > selling the app and giving a cut to developer? > > > > George > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > 鏡石 > > > > > > > > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
