Ask HN: VAT and sales taxes for small SaaS
2 comments
For those coming across this post later, here is a nice comparison of FastSpring, Paddle, Gumroad, and Avangate [1] (in fact the whole post is an interesting read).
It also sounds like Quaderno [2] + Stripe is a common and decent combo.
I think I'll go with Paddle for now. It sounds simple and safe.
1: https://discuss.bootstrapped.fm/t/my-vat-moss-experience-so-... 2: https://www.quaderno.io/
It also sounds like Quaderno [2] + Stripe is a common and decent combo.
I think I'll go with Paddle for now. It sounds simple and safe.
1: https://discuss.bootstrapped.fm/t/my-vat-moss-experience-so-... 2: https://www.quaderno.io/
Hi there! I'm the founder of Quaderno. Managing EU VAT MOSS shouldn't be cost you so much money. In fact, VAT is a consumption tax and, therefore, it's paid by your customer. You business is just a mere collector of that tax.
Quaderno can help you calculate taxes in real time based on your customer location, issue tax receipts automatically, generate a billing history for your customers, and generate the tax reports you'll need for your filings.
Much cheaper than paying 15% of your income :) Let me know if you have any questions. Happy to help!
When I was doing a lot of ecommerce we used to recommend Avalara (www.avalara.com), for both US and international businesses in regards to sales/use tax compliance and import duties.
They are not a SaaS startup where you just sign up and use it, but for all the headaches they took off clients hands they were worth it. I don't remember their costs, and it has been long enough now it probably wouldn't be valid anyway. Not sure they'd be cost effective for a smaller business but I'd call them if I had a need.
They are not a SaaS startup where you just sign up and use it, but for all the headaches they took off clients hands they were worth it. I don't remember their costs, and it has been long enough now it probably wouldn't be valid anyway. Not sure they'd be cost effective for a smaller business but I'd call them if I had a need.
Excellent! Thanks, I'll check them out!
I would love to learn how you handle VAT (Value Added Tax – and other applicable sales related taxes) for your small (or large) SaaS businesses.
For example: the VAT rules are quite complex in the EU. The rate you pay is based on the location of the customer, rather than where you are located. In some countries elsewhere I know there to be a threshold you need to reach before you have to start paying. Additionally it seems the rules and rates keep changing.
My question to you is:
When first becoming consciously aware of the need to collect the applicable taxes myself I was quite surprised to find it wasn't something companies such as Stripe handles for you out of the box. It seems like a no-brainer service for a payment provider to handle?
There are services like Paddle which act as the merchant and deal with the taxes for you. Paddle comes at quite a hefty premium though (5% + 50c/transaction – meaning if you have a subscription price of 5EUR and sell to a customer in a country where the VAT is 20% VAT, the maths end up looking like: 5 - 20% - (50c + 25c) = 3.25EUR going to you. In other words Paddle effectively costs you 15% of the sales price...). The premium might of course still be worth it given they deal with all the bureaucracy.
Thanks for your time and suggestions!