In article ,
Bernard Peek wrote:

But what the euroseptics won't tell you is that the change was
pushed through by - wait for it - our very own UK, certainly as
a principal and possibly as the prime mover.

Apparently the UK argued for a minimum threshold below which businesses
did not need to register. The argument was not accepted.

The conspiracy theory is that the UK wanted their argument to fail so
that they would have another stick to beat the EU with.

You shouldn't trust Whitehall/Murdoch/Wail/Torygraph propaganda.

I was referring to the original proposal, which I knew of a long
time back, because Whitehall and Westminster were not happy that
UK residents were paying VAT to other countries for such things,
because the UK-favoured multinationals - surprise, surprise - use
the countries with the lowest VAT rate. And, yes, it was WE are
going to push for this - and WE did.

Also, I believe that there IS a minimum threshold.

No. HMRC said they argued for one but lost the argument. Apparently the
different thresholds in different EU countries made it too complex. So
even if your annual turnover is ninepence three-farthings you still have
to register.

A pity that my daughter has just left - she might well know the
inside story. Do you know if the UK actually pushed for that,
or whether HMRC's request got downplayed by the UK? While HMRC
are involved in such negotiations, they aren't the political
principals.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.