Save small online digital independent crafting businesses—sign the petition!

SAVE OUR SMALL DIGITAL CRAFTING BUSINESSES!!!

The EU in its ultimate stupidity has passed a new series of VAT laws that as of January 1, 2015 anyone selling digital downloads is required to charge its customers and pay the VAT tax rate for the EU country that person lives in, not the VAT rate of the seller's country. This was done to stop Amazon and other big companies who have based themselves in Luxembourg to pay lower VAT tax rates. But the EU has made no difference between giants like Amazon and small 'Jane Doe' sole trader digital crafting companies. There are 28 member states in the EU and 75 different tax levels. This is an accounting nightmare many small businesses do not want to undertake and so are no longer selling outside their own country for digital download. This also effects digital download sellers in the US who sell to Europeans. They are now supposed to be charging and paying VAT for EU customers.

Many small companies don't want to mess with this and I can't say as I blame them. There are no digital stamp companies in France, so I buy mainly from the UK or the US. Tonight I was shopping online with some of my favorite UK sites and this is what I came across, "...we can no longer sell digital downloads via this website to EU countries, other than the UK." I checked an American website I like and it said this, "Due to this new [EU VAT] law, [...] will no longer carry digital products as of January 1st, 2015. Thank you to all those who have purchased digital stamps over the years and supported our artists."

How completely idiotic and incomprehensible is this law?! The overall EU unemployment rate is 10%, but you have countries like Greece at 25.7% and Spain 23.9%. Overall youth unemployment (under 25) is 21.9%. At a time when business growth and entrepreneurship should be encouraged, the EU makes a completely ridiculous business and entrepreneurship killing decision like this.

I urge you to please click over to Change.org and sign the petition to exempt micro businesses and small traders from this ludicrous law. Americans can also sign the petition. 

Please share this information on all your social networks and let's get this changed. Save our small independent online digital crafting businesses!