"Martin J. Dürst" wrote: > >On 2013/07/04 9:39, Barry Leiba wrote: >>> Registration for IETF87 in Berlin has been suspended to consider the impact >>> of a change in the VAT rules on Registration Fees. We expect registration >>> to open as soon as this matter has been clarified. >> >> I don't understand what the effect of VAT rules is on money collected >> in the U.S. in U.S. Dollars. > > It's usual in the U.S. that taxes on goods bought and sold are levied as > a consumption tax, at the place (i.e. in the state) where the object is > bought (and therefore presumably consumed/used). > > However, that's not a given, and VAT stands for value added tax, and the > value addition/consumption can be presumed to happen at the meeting in > Berlin (and there's no need for consensus here, it's the opinion of the > local tax authority that counts :-(). If the money that is collected is an entrance/participation fee for the venue itself, then the local tax authority might require the local VAT for _all_ visitors, even those that pay in advance or in a different country. While it might be possible to make the necessary tweaks about the fee (maybe not for this meeting, but for future meetings) for the WG sessions themselves, this would be more difficult to argue for the breakfast/buffet/brownies/beverages (I assume that still exists) and the access to the terminal room, where some form of badge checking is usually done in order to protect the resources. -Martin