I think that in the U.S., sales tax is only charged if the buyer is in the same state as the seller and there are no federal sales taxes. There's a good chance I'm wrong, though.
However, dealing with international tax laws sounds like a huge disincentive to sell on the Android Market... is there any chance that you can choose an "only sell to U.S. buyers" setting? On Nov 11, 7:45 am, RichardC <[email protected]> wrote: > IANAL > > There are 2 sorts of taxes we need to concider "sales tax" and "local > income or corporate tax". Taking "sales tax" first: > > Because the "sales tax" laws are so complicated especially with > international transactions I do expect a market site (Google Market) > to provide this for me as part of the percentage fee they charge. > This includes tracking and changing the taxes applied (to each sale) > as relevant tax laws in each country change. It is impossible for > small developers to investigate and implement all the local sales > taxes especially as there is still disagreement (especially with > internet transactions) regarding which country (or even state in the > US) the point-of-sale takes place in. > > "Local income or corporate taxes" are another matter and should NOT be > processed by the market provider. > > Have a look Handango for an example of this being done better. > > In addition I have two thoughts about selling in the EU market (if I > am correct IANAL) : > 1. In the EU it is not legal to display prices (to end-users) that do > not include all taxes and delivery charges. That is the prices should > not change beteen the listing screen and the final purchase screen. > 2. Who is the customers (end-user) relationship with (a) Google or (b) > the Developer. I believe it is Google which puts the onus on Google > to display the "correct" and final price. > > In summary I am disappointed in the approach Google is taking at the > moment and I am hoping that they will do better in the future. > > IANAL > > -- > RichardC > > On Nov 11, 11:48 am, niko20 <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > IF you look at the original posting, he says "how does the money get > > to the US government", so he WAS talking more about federal taxes. For > > us in the US, that's just a Schedule C form that you fill out. Also, I > > agree tax law for online purchases really is a not-well-defined area > > yet - such as state taxes. Each state has their own laws about it. > > > For those in other countries, just do some research on tax laws in > > your country. > > > It basically comes down to this - do some research. When it's stuff > > that is law, like taxes, the info will usually be out there on the web > > on a government website, etc. > > > -niko > > > On Nov 11, 2:57 am, Cédric Berger <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > On Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 05:49, Arron <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Sales tax is usually imposed onto the buyer so by not collecting these > > > > up front, developers are now charged for this amount. Inside Google > > > > Checkout, they have an area where you can specify sales taxes but I > > > > have to manually input all the percents. Maintaining the right sale > > > > tax %, informing buyers about this (since they will freak out), and > > > > separating this out from your normal income will be a big HASSLE. > > > > Additionally Google Checkout in general offers the poorest reporting > > > > features I have seen from any of the other competitors. > > > > > Companies pay heavy money for accounting firms to do this for them. > > > > As a developer, I have to take care of all of this?? I am unsure of > > > > what to do and will probably do it wrong. And considering that I did > > > > not impose any sales taxes to my buyers so far, I will need to pay all > > > > of that out of my own pocket. > > > > > Apple calculates ALL of this for you and is included in their 30% > > > > cut... > > > > > Android Market is terrible and Google/Android in general has no idea > > > > what the heck they are doing. I wonder if they even thought this out > > > > correctly at all. > > > > > On Nov 10, 8:22 pm, Brian Conrad <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > I'm not a tax attorney either and yes having been a contract > > > > > programmer > > > > > for years I know the form C and 1099 stuff. But the Google clause is > > > > > about the developers collecting sales tax. I'm not sure that is even > > > > > legal. It would be like asking Kraft Foods to collect sales tax for > > > > > their products sold at Safeway. If Google is going to operate a > > > > > market > > > > > I believe under the law they are liable for collecting the taxes not > > > > > the > > > > > vendors. But I'll be looking some more at the agreement tomorrow. > > > > > > - Brian > > > > > > niko20 wrote: > > > > > > Hi, > > > > > > > I'm no tax lawyer, but in the past years I've done contract jobs on > > > > > > rentacoder.com, they don't do any tax stuff either, but at the end > > > > > > of > > > > > > the year you get a 1099 form. I'm assuming Google may send us one of > > > > > > those. If not, you can report your income anyway in the U.S. on a > > > > > > Schedule C form. It's not really that hard. It's called self > > > > > > employment tax. > > > > > > > The big benefit is you can deduct anything that is a business > > > > > > related > > > > > > expense before applying the tax. Last year you could deduct up to > > > > > > about $5000 without having to itemize the deductions. > > > > > > > Just check out the irs.gov website, it explains everything pretty > > > > > > well. > > > > > > > -niko > > > > > > > On Nov 10, 9:13 pm, Brian Conrad <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > >> This whole area of taxes for online purchases is rather gray. I > > > > > >> also > > > > > >> sell products using Digital River with their SWReg service. They > > > > > >> take > > > > > >> care of all tax issues and have the software in place for it. With > > > > > >> Digital River taxes are only charged in states where they have > > > > > >> offices > > > > > >> or states that have passed tax laws for online purchases. They may > > > > also > > > > > >> charge VAT taxes for countries that are applicable. The developer > > > > > >> doesn't have to worry about it. > > > > > > >> Google not being as mature a company as Digital River must not be > > > > > >> up > > > > to > > > > > >> building such an infrastructure. Either that or a lazy legal > > > > > >> counsel > > > > > >> who thinks they should just dump the issue on developers. > > > > > > >> Brian Conrad > > > > > >> JyotishTools.com > > > > > > >> Arron wrote: > > > > > > >>> WOW the more I read, I am getting disheartened by Google's > > > > > >>> approach. > > > > > >>> Apparently developers have to handle ALL SALES tax on their own. > > > > > >>> Seriously can they make a life of a developer harder? Apple's > > > > > >>> AppStore handles all taxes for you and Google Android Market does > > > > > >>> not? Are you serious? A small developer like me can really figure > > > > out > > > > > >>> what to do with sales taxes for US and other countries in the > > > > > >>> world? > > > > > > >>> Sometimes Google's approaches make them seem so immature compared > > > > > >>> to > > > > > >>> other companies. Do they even know what they are doing? > > > > > > >>> At this point, I am unsure what to do at all. I have tons of > > > > > >>> sales > > > > > >>> sold without any taxes imposed onto the buyer. How do I report > > > > > >>> this > > > > > >>> back to the tax agencies? I might have to go to the route of > > > > > >>> hiring > > > > a > > > > > >>> tax consultant just to deal with this and Google thinks developers > > > > > >>> will flock to Google to do this type of BS? > > > > > > >>> What is Google thinking?! Please tell me I am totally wrong on > > > > > >>> this. > > > > > > >>> On Nov 10, 5:19 pm, Arron <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > >>>> I have been selling my application on the Android Market for > > > > > >>>> over a > > > > > >>>> period of 6 months. I wasn't aware of all the tax issues that I > > > > have > > > > > >>>> recently been reading about. > > > > > >>>> I have read various threads about seller taxes and now I am > > > > > >>>> deeply > > > > > >>>> confused on what to do. > > > > > > >>>> 1) I do not see any developers charging sales tax at all for > > > > > >>>> their > > > > > >>>> applications > > > > > >>>> 2) Do I need to charge sales tax? > > > > > >>>> 3) Is there a chart anywhere to tell me what sales tax I should > > > > input? > > > > > >>>> 4) Once I input the sales tax and the buyer gets charged, does it > > > > > >>>> automatically go to the US government? > > > > > > >>>> Sorry I am a complete noob on this and Google is definitely > > > > > >>>> making > > > > it > > > > > >>>> difficult to understand. I do not want to get into any issues > > > > > >>>> with > > > > > >>>> taxes. Any tax genius out there that has any ideas on what to > > > > > >>>> do? > > > > > > >>> -- > > > > > > >>> 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]<android-discuss%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > > > > . > > > > > >>> For more options, visit this group athttp:// > > > > groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=. > > > > > > > -- > > > > > > > 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]<android-discuss%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > > > > . > > > > > > For more options, visit this group athttp:// > > > > groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=. > > > > > -- > > > > > 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]<android-discuss%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > > > > . > > > > For more options, visit this group at > > > >http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=. > > > > As a customer (I have not yet published anything on the Market) this > > > indeed > > > is confusing : > > > For some apps (ex PicSay Pro), displayed price (in €, ok for me since I am > > > in france) in applications list (and app detail) does not include VAT, > > > but > > > then in Market's Google > > ... > > read more »- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- 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=.
