Dear Mieko and List,
In the end the solution was very simple. The German VAT authorities (via our agent) required a "Certificate of Status" which essentially indicates you are a business. This enables the supplier to invoice without VAT and as you correctly say, you then add in the VAT at the rate of the destination country. As our VAT is currently 17.5% and the German 19% this makes a big difference.
I suggest you speak to your University VAT office who will know how to obtain this (our VAT office managed to get a certificate for us in around 3 days) and then a photocopy is all that should be required by Springer.
See generally:-
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageExcise_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000860&propertyType=document
Best wishes
Sue Bate
Head of Serials
The John Rylands University Library
The University of Manchester
-----Original Message-----
From: Diana Leitch [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 01 June 2007 08:52
To: An informal open list set up by the UK Serials Group; Mieko Yamaguchi
Cc: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: VAT certificate
Dear Mieko,
We have had the same problem which is now solved.
I am copying to my colleague, Sue Bate, Head of Serials at the JRUL who will be able to explain to you what we needed to do.
Best wishes,
Diana
Dr Diana M. Leitch
Deputy University Librarian (Information Resources and Academic Support)
Quoting Mieko Yamaguchi <[log in to unmask]>:
> This may not be strictly an e-journal question but we at the
> University of Wales Bangor are experiencing difficulty purchasing
> e-book collections from Springer and wonder if anyone else has
> experienced a similar problem. I'm writing to this list because we
> had the same problem when purchasing e-journal archives last year.
>
> Springer use JISC banding for pricing their e-book collections and
> e-journal archives, but as far as I remember neither was a Nesli2/JISC
> offer. We negotiated directly with Springer and placed an order.
>
> For our e-journal archives order Springer initially sent us an invoice
> inclusive of German VAT. We pointed out that we were expected to pay
> VAT at the prevailing rate in the UK and were asked to send a VAT
> certificate which our Finance Department eventually provided.
> Springer then sent us an invoice without VAT and we made arrangements
> for VAT payment in the usual way.
>
> However, we have now heard from Springer that their legal department
> had looked at the VAT certificate we sent last year and found that it
> was not what they needed. They sent us a document explaining the
> background which I have difficulty understanding but they say we must
> supply something called a "certificate of entrepreneurship" which our
> Finance Department does not seem to be able to provide. Without this
> certificate they will have to invoice us inclusive of German VAT.
>
> Has anyone else come across this problem? We will happily order these
> e-book collections through an intermediary if there is someone who can
> supply them at the same price as purchasing them directly from
> Springer. Thanks for any advice.
>
> Mieko
> -----
> Mieko Yamaguchi [log in to unmask]
> Head of Technical Services +44 (0)1248 382970
> Main Library, University of Wales Bangor, UK +44 (0)1248 382979 (Fax)
>
>
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