Instant Downloads to EU Customers from 1st January 2021

Why am I here?

  • You have been sent to this page because the system has detected that you are in an EU country and want to order 'Instant Download' service data.
  • This may be due to your IP address or due to the address you entered in checkout.
  • If you are in the UK or outside the EU, and are using a VPN, proxy or similar service that alters your IP address, please disable it for this website or set it to give you a non-EU IP address. Your current IP address is 35.170.82.159 which indicates that you are located in United States.
  • Also if you are in the UK or outside the EU, be sure to enter the correct (non-EU) country in checkout.

Introduction

  • Due to Brexit and EU VAT legislation we are unable to sell 'Instant Download' products to customers in any EU countries from 1st January 2021, through the automated system on this website.
  • The countries affected are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Irish Republic, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
  • Please read the whole of this page to understand what the problem is and why we have had to make this decision.

How can I order the service data I want?

  • Please check the 'Why am I here?' section above and make sure your IP address and the country you entered are correct.
  • If you want to buy any of the DVD-ROMs or USBs you can order them here as normal. Please see the 'Customs Charges' section on the DVD-ROM and USB Ordering, Cancellation and Returns Information page for more information.
  • If you want to buy individual service data as PDF files and are in one of the affected countries, please send us an email with the manufacturer and model you require (and also your country). We will reply with an individual quote for the data we have available. If you are happy with that you can send payment by PayPal and we will then send the data by email.
  • Our email address is sales@service-data.com.

What is the problem?

  • EU VAT rules require that VAT needs to be paid in the country where the product is delivered to, and not in the country where the product is supplied from. For digital download products this includes those which are ordered and delivered online with no or minimal human involvement by the seller.
  • With the UK leaving the EU, we can no longer take advantage of the EU VAT threshold for these products.
  • The legislation was intended to target multi-nationals like Apple and Amazon who traded from wherever the VAT rate is lowest. We fully agree with that.
  • However for small businesses this is a huge problem and expense, which will cause many to stop trading or change how they operate.
  • We have considered the situation in some detail and taken professional advice. The options are.

    1. Register for VAT separately in each EU country we supply, calculate the VAT on every sale depending on the customers location, then complete VAT returns and make payments if necessary to each of those countries every three months.
    2. Register for VAT MOSS in any EU state, calculate the VAT on every sale depending on the customers location, then complete a VAT return and payment to that scheme every three months.
    3. Use a third party marketplace which handles EU VAT to sell our products instead.
    4. Stop selling digital download products to the countries affected.

  • If we chose option 1 or 2 the amount of work required to collect all the information (some of which is not readily available) and complete the necessary paperwork, plus accountants fees etc, would be vastly more than the value of those sales.
  • We have looked at option 3 and at the moment there are no companies that can handle the huge number of products we sell. In addition the commission and fees they take (as well as the VAT) would mean the prices would have to increase significantly.
  • So, reluctantly, we have chosen option 4. Although this is unfair to EU customers, we have no choice. Digital downloads to EU countries are only about 2% of the sales through this website, and the loss of that income will have much less financial impact on our business than any of the other options.
  • EU customers can still request an individual quotation for the products and order as detailed above, as this takes the amount of work to process the order above 'minimal'. Not ideal but better than nothing.

Where can I get more information?

IP address location system

Finally...

  • This page will be updated if the situation changes.
  • We are really sorry about this, however at the moment there is nothing we can do to change it. Thank you for reading this and for your understanding.


Last updated 7th July 2021.