Publishers are equally concerned about this, and its distorting effect on
the prices of electronic (particularly electronic-only) journals.  However,
the reason the industry has actively decided not to raise it at national
level is that the cure is highly likely to be worse than the disease - i.e.
Govt would slap on VAT onto print products as well, in order to level things
up (things never, it seems, get levelled down)

Sally

Sally Morris, Secretary-General
Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers
South House, The Street, Clapham, Worthing, West Sussex BN13 3UU, UK

Phone:  01903 871686 Fax:  01903 871457 E-mail:  [log in to unmask]
ALPSP Website  http://www.alpsp.org.uk



-----Original Message-----
From: Martin White <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 16 June 2000 11:57
Subject: e-journals and VAT


>I have a strong sense of deja vu on this current discussion. The question
of
>VAT on electronic services as regards academic institutions seems to have
>been rumbling on for some time, certainly since CD-ROMs arrived. However
>many publishers worked out a combined package price with the print version
>that resulted in a composite rate of VAT that was such a small increment on
>the print price that no-one really seemed to be too worried.
>
>The issue started to gain much more attention when I was working as a
member
>of the Evaluation Team for the Pilot Site Licence Initiative, under the
>direction of John Fielden at CHEMS. Some universities had had discussions
>with their local VAT inspector, which in at least one case resulted in two
>institutions in the same city taking a different view on how to reclaim VAT
>because they each had a different VAT Inspector.  We raised the issue of
VAT
>in the report of the Evaluation Team, and specifically referred to the
>problem of the impact this would have on budgets if the 17.5% VAT could not
>be reclaimed.  In presenting this conclusion to a UKSG meeting in November
>1997 I was taken on one side by a distinguished university librarian and
>told that I had overstated the problem because there were never going to be
>any electronic-only journals!
>
>To add to the comments from David Ball, the composite VAT rate issue is
more
>complex than might seem.  Where there is a combined print/electronic
>subscription the element of the use of the electronic version has to be
>taken into account.  If the print version is just kept as a long-term
>archive and the primary use is of the electronic version then Customs and
>Excise may take some convincing that the composite rate should be nearer 0%
>than 17.5%
>
>Going back to the discussions within the PSLI project, a publisher may take
>the view of their VAT Inspector and/or finance director, but as I
understood
>it, this is not binding on the VAT Inspector at the purchaser's end, but I
>am happy to be corrected on this viewpoint.
>
>The VAT situation does need some skilled and urgent attention paid to it
>given the current differences of opinion between the USA and the EU about
>taxation on e-commerce.
>
>Martin White, Managing Director, Intranet Focus Ltd
>12 Allcard Close, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 5AJ
>Tel. 01403 267030   http://www.intranetfocus.com
>
>
>



%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%