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New EU tax spelling death for F2P model in the EU?
DarkPony
Member Posts: 5,566
Apparantly F2players will be paying at least 5 bucks monthly in the EU from 2013 onwards, subbed games will be around 3 Euro's more expensive (when devs completely relay the tax to players, that is):
www.theparliament.com/news/eu_lawmakers_to_propose_VAT2_tax/
- "Millions affected if majority vote holds" From our Brussels correspondent - EU Lawmakers to propose VAT2 tax on online entertainment.
A proposed tax bill is taking VAT to the next level in the EU. Starting January 2013 all online forms or entertainment such as streaming film or music subscriptions such as Spotify, but also online computer games and digital newspaper or tabloid subscriptions are subject to a monthly 19% VAT2 taxing. The tax also affects services with alternative payment models such as companies charging users only for premium services with a € 5,- threshold taxing.
The VAT2 tax, as proposed by Geoffrey Hugens and Celine d'Avignon on the 29th of march is currently supported with a 71% majority in our initial census. Strongly worded opposition comes from British delegate Nigel Farage who has been quoted saying: "Yes, they've gone completely bonkers, but I've been telling you that over and over again".
Proponents of the bill are stressing its estimate annual revenues of € 1.6 billion which will be allocated to the EU's reserve for member states enduring economical hardships.
So what's your thoughts on this? 5 Euros a month isn't too bad but still ...it isn't really F2P anymore even if its just taxes.
A lot of companies are gong to ask us for billing addresses soon I bet.
Comments
unable to locate the page on the website...
Plus I think its just an April Fool
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/Norsefire-logo.png
My thought, it's April 1st again....
Nice try
while im not an EU gamer nor does VAT effect me (yet that i know of).. that sounds pretty harsh, if you assume its effecting all games that means all subbed games will cost more, so if its 15 bucks a month for a sub.. another fiver makes it 20 bucks a month for people's entertainment, does seem a tad harsh.
not sure how it will effect a F2P game other then item mall stuff will not cost more, which might see alot of F2P games wind up shutting down, as that 2bucks a month for XP orbs will now be like 6-8 bucks a month for it.. still doesnt sound harsh but if you add in the fact alot of f2p games rely on people spending hundreds on RMT.. anything that will make them iffy or have to pay more for the same amount, may very well cause them to stop paying completely.
i personally have always hated when politic groups get wrapped up in things not political.. as a vast majorty of them have -9000 IQ when it comes to the crap they are promoting.. this will be quite interesting to see how it plays out. personally cant see it being benificial to the players or game companies thats for sure.
Even if its not a joke, as-worded it doesn't sound like it will affect F2P at all, although this hinges on the meaning of "thresh hold" as used. By my reading of it I came away with "only transactions of at least 5 pounds/euros will be taxed at the 19% (or whatever) rate".
So all this would mean is that cash shop items get more expensive.
Yeah, almost every game have an online mode so you would have to pay for everything you do on the net. And there is no way they actually could control who did what.
But that some government would put a huge tax on internet conections as whole is not so unlikely.
Both EAs and US governments would never put up such a huge tax as this though since it would hurt plenty of big corps in the end.
I think it's an April Fool's day joke
Even so, don't give them ideas Pony OMG 
! Considering we will be taxed for hot sausage rolls while eating cold ones we can tax evade I would not put a single thing past this lot.
the poster formerly known as melangel :P
Oh yea I think that's coming for sure Loke.
the poster formerly known as melangel :P
We need to make more "Frikandellen" it seems
I already pay VAT on my Virgin Media bills, but you're right. It wouldn't surprise me if some idiot tried to add an additional tax. Politicians are such greedy, corrupt bastards it's surprising they haven't tried already.
From the thread title, I thought you meant that people would have to pay a tax on their misspelled words.
Even the entire EU swarms a dark pony when it passes by.
"Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one ..." - Thomas Paine
This would not suprise me in the least, even if this is an April Fools joke, this could still happen.
Does anyone have a source for this?
Same.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
My brand new bloggity blog.
On any other day of the year i would not have been surprised at all
Just not on this day.....
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Good riddance. As someone who sees the EU as the second most evil organization after the Bilderbergers, my blood pressure just went through the roof, Aprils Fools or not. Give them time and fun will come reality, I say...
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert