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Consol
 |  | 
      
        |   | MECC - Munich Electronic & Computer
          Consultants |  Purpose
      To discuss matters of common interest: fiscal, technical,
      professional, job opportunities, Brexit Impacts  etc, among
      Computer & Electronic Engineers/Developers/Technical
      Freelance Consultants etc.
    MECC Is For
      Munich Computer & Electronics Contractors/Consultant
      Developers etc, but we also welcome employee engineers whose
      interest in the industry &/or business continues to
      remain strong after five o'clock   MECC Is Not For
      Engineers whose interest in technology turns off at five
      o'clock, end users, random girl friends, boyfriends,
      husbands, wives, relatives, drinking/sports friends etc.
      Diluting MECC with non MECC-qualified people would damage the
      purpose of MECC. There are plenty of better groups for
      general socialising, EG Beer Gardeners .)
    Language / Sprache
      No German translation  of this
      page exists. The language of the computer & electronics
      industries is English. If you can't talk mostly in English,
      you will have problems conversing at the Stammtisch . Most of us can speak German too
      though, if you get stuck. We are computer technologists, not
      linguists, so we are far more interested in technical &
      financial ideas, not obsessing about grammar. good technical
      (& financial) ideas are of more interest, than good
      grammar :-)
    
      Advance reminder of monthly meetings
      is sent by email.We have no membership fees, assets, formal procedures
      etc.We are not an "Eingetragene Verein"We do not campaign for anythingStarted by Julian
      H. Stacey & Martin Collins . First meeting Thursday
      26th November 1998, Kapuziner Platz 5Got lots of of questions before you come to Germany ?
      Don't mail us, we have no time! Contractor in germany
      questions & answers here When We Meet
      Months When We Meet
        Our Email List  keeps you updated; but
        the table below gives an indication of months when we are
        more & less likely to meet. 
         
          
            | MONTH | PROBABILITY | COMMENT |  
            | January | No. | Skiing Too soon after Xmas break
 |  
            | February | Maybe | Skiing |  
            | March | Maybe | Last Skiing |  
            | April | Unlikely |  |  
            | May | Probably |  |  
            | June | Unlikely |  |  
            | July | Yes | Last chance before Aug & Sept holidays.
 |  
            | August | No. | Many away on holiday |  
            | September | No. | Still some away first half of month. |  
            | October | Maybe | Some recovering from Oktoberfest
            (private & company trips).
 |  
            | November | Likely | If not October |  
            | December | No | Short month (parties, Xmas, tax returns) Maximise working hours other days.
 | 
        By default: Second Tuesday in some months, 19:30(Moved from last Wednesday (in 6.2007 ), as contractors
        get busier towards the end of each month.).
          
          An automatic reminder to add to Unix computers: 
          
            
              man calendar 
               vi $HOME/calendar ~/.calendar/calendar 
               
                * Tues+1 Advance Warning: MECC next Tuesday.If you want us to meet, write to list.
 * Tues+2 MECC, Second Tuesday in month.
              Ensure calendars are mailed: 
               
                crontab -e 
                 
                  # /var/cron/tabs/my_name managed via crontab
                  -e# Min Hour DayInMth Mth DayInWk Command
                  (1=Mon,7=Sun)
 0 0 * * * calendar
 Will We Meet This Month ? - Only If You Help Us Decide To
      !
        The date you should remind us of on the Email List, the best part of a week
        before.If you don't, others probably won't either, so you can
        assume No Stammtisch this month.Contractors tend to be either working hard & short
        of time, or between jobs, short of money, not spending.
        Thus we tend to have less people turn up than our list size
        might lead one to suppose.There's not enough of us to meet every month, so me
        meet Only if enough people announce they will come, by
        posting to list mecc@ (not via private mail to
        Author).No single person decides: if, where, & when we
        meet, None of us so somewhere to sit alone, in case you
        might want to turn up without commitment.
          What do You need to do, to ensure we meet ? 
          
            Post to mecc@ about 5 days before 2nd Tuesday,
            & proposes MECC meets.We will discuss on mecc@ list (not by private mail)
            for 2 days,We will decide on Email List,
            if we have enough people to make it worth meeting.One of us (any of us, does Not need to be Julian or
            Martin) then makes a definitive statement, "We have
            enough, we will meet".We each then have 2 days to phone other people
            & invite them.Ditherers can decideOne of us books a table.
              Date Clashes: 
              
                If any important dates collide with the
                default, please send a warning to the Email List, where alternate dates can
                be discussed (subject to: fair notice: some may be
                away travelling incommunicado, on business).Football: Increasingly venues have TV screens,
                we try to avoid them. Note: Julian is
                totally un-interested & unaware of football
                matches, Do not rely on him to avoiding date
                clashes, warn us.Sometimes we attend a tech.
                lecture, before going on to eat/ drink.
              If you expect to be there, Please post that to to
              our Email List: 
              
                We need at least 4 definite recently confirmed
                people by 20:00 day before the Stammtisch, to our
                MECC Email List , else
                Stammtisch is cancelled.If last minute changes happen, happens, we
                won't try to tell you via list etc, unless you have
                committed yourself to join us.Mail the Email List
                (not Julian). The group needs to know if we
                have enough people & who they are, Julian may
                be out/ busy/ ill & does not want to be a
                single focus of email; Use the Email List .Enhance your & our evening, phone a MECC
            oriented friend & ask them too.Occasionally someone phones round
            reminding/recruiting people to latest Stammtisch,
            anyone is very welcome to do this, don't wait to be
            asked, just do it. 
        http://doodle.com or
        similar might be attractive for scheduling a business
        meeting for a fixed limited number of known participants
        who all want to meet at a common free time. 
         But they're not appropriate for us, we have a Email List of 46 (as at 2011.06) contractors,
        we have a fixed monthly date to focus
        on (& if we were to choose other dates, we would
        collide with other well
        known stammtisch dates). Those free that day may meet, if enough have interest to
        bother to mail they will come. Who is interested depends on
        work commitments, which being freelancers, varies a
        lot. Historically MECC members weren't often motivated enough
        to send a single mail (to publicly commit to coming. to
        increase head count), so getting them to either repeatedly
        access an on line service, or type in all their blocked or
        free days isn't realistic. Some, likely many MECC members inc this author, will not
        type their dates into a proprietary commercial
        database. An interactive remote web system would require on line
        net access & http protocol. Some contractors can be
        travelling &/or in customers' offices with less net
        access than permis, (email may be passed, & http
        blocked etc). ( Even email { by wireless / UMTS / net stick
        } & sms by GPRS may be blocked, some companies use
        shielding on windows 
         . ) MECC is focused by a simple predictable date, that
        people's calendars can predict (each individually &
        personally, by whatever software or service they personally
        choose), That they will then see on Email
        List (if we're not all too lazy/ busy/ uninterested,
        not to propose a meet). People then add their names to the fixed date, if
        willing to attend, people pick up those names by email a
        few days before (in case travelling or out late at nights)
        so they know if the meeting is on (or not). Our goal is not just to increase the probability to meet
        more often, but also:. 
          Minimum effort for attenders to decide if they are
          free & will commit to coming.Minimal regular effort for convener to decide if we
          have sufficient people to meet, & to focus people by
          definitively announcing "We will [or not] meet this
          month."To ensure a decent turnout if we meet, as too regular
          meetings with low numbers would be more work arranging
          for less reward, & would fizzle out. (Thus the idea
          of quarterly meetings, to encourage people to [reschedule
          other commitments if necessary] & make the effort to
          travel to MECC, else they will miss out for 3
          months). 
        Summary: More technology might give a short term boost to
        MECC, but would kill it long term. We don't need a higher
        frequency of meetings with minimal numbers, we need it that
        when we travel to attend, it's numerous, lively &
        interesting & we enthusiasticaly tell others they
        missed out & should come too next time. 
         
          MECC people who want to meet, Recruiting more work
          friends & colleagues to join Email
          List & attend the the meetings.Make a note in your diary ,
          about a week before scheduled date, to propose we meet
          that month. 
      We meet monthly  for a beer & /or
      meal in Gaststatten & beer gardens.
           Location(s)
      Best phone Julian or Gary J to check
      who is coming, the venue's still on etc !We tend to use Restaurant
      with a No Smoking area (The author
      is tobacco
      allergic, & other regular MECC attenders also dislike
      smoke.
        SUMMER
          Our fine weather &/or summer default (unless
          otherwise announced on Email List )
          is Paulaner
          Beergarden @ Kapuziner Plz  Kapuzinerplatz 5, 80337
          Munich. Tel 544611.0 
           In suddenly bad weather  -
          look for us inside the Paulaner Bräus building, in
          summer / warm weather  -
          look for us in the self service part of the beer garden
          adjacent, run by the same management.
           Kapuziner
          Directions etc  : Paulaner Brauhaus, Kapuzinerplatz 5,
          80337. Line map
          http://www.berklix.com/~jhs/gifs/kapuziner.gif U Bahn 3
          & 6, Goethe Platz. 1 block South East on Kapuziner
          Str, or South on Haberl Str, merging at Kapuziner Str,
          Then half a block South East on Kapuziner Str, & left
          into beer garden. 
           If bad weather, then inside, (one can take stuff in, if
          weather degrades). In middle room which is non smoking,
          towards back, further from smoking areas..
        
        WINTER
          Our winter cold weather default in months when
          beergardens are impossible 
          
           : http://www.weisses-brauhaus.de/ 
           Before 2008.010.01: Upstairs the whole place is non
          smoking. Hopefully somewhere away from stairs as smoke
          drifts up. 
           After 2008.01.01 new Bavarian non smoking law: Still
          upstairs, as downstairs, the chloroform & nicotine
          etc will still be in walls & soft furnishings,
          returning to the air, & may be crowded, noisier, more
          tourists etc.
        Yes we're still meeting on & off in 2009 (though this
      page doesn't get updated that often to indicate it). Other Resources
      The disruptive impacts of Brexit - a Berklix
      mail list to track that.
        `Dead Beat Customers' ie
        Suspect you customer may not be Zahlungsfaehig ? (&
        remember that doesn't necessarily mean they wont pay
        anything, they may just muck around & pay late, after
        3rd reminder or court summons, or they may make spurious
        accusations the work wasn't good enough, any excuse to try
        to wangle a discount or delay payment, or justify delaying
        the already overdue payment longer, etc. Some customers are
        golden, & pay properly on time for work done, a few
        other customers are occasionally best summarised in harsh 4
        letter angle Saxon. Stay in business long enough &
        you'll meet both ends of the spectrum.Translators have the same worries too. Here's URLs from a
        publication aimed for them, not us:
 
          German
          Informationsaustausch für Dolmetscher und
          Übersetzer über Zahlungspraxis und
          Zahlungsmoral von Auftraggebern
        News groups of possible interest include: 
        
          muc.markt.arbeit Munichmisc.jobs.contract Loads of mainly USAde.etc.beruf.selbstaendig Much general discussion
          in German about local laws, taxes,
          promoting business, etcBerufsverband
      Selbstaendiger in der Informatik e.V. Elbestr 51, 48145
      Muenster.http://www.expatengineer.netVSI verband der
      Softwareindustrie Deutschlands e.V. Seitzstr 17 80538
      MuenchenDMMV Deutscher Multimedia Verband e.V. Osterwaldstr,
      80805 Muenchen. I find no working URLs - jhs 4.2005Gesellschaft fuer Systems
      Engineering Die GfSE ist der deutsche Zweig des
      International Council on Systems Engineering ( INCOSE , dem Internationalen
      Fachverband fuer Systems Engineering mit ueber 4000
      Mitgliedern weltweit.Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer
      Luft- und Raumfahrthttp://www.cray-cyber.org -
      Access to historical supercomputers - Munich base. MagazineNewcomers often ask me questions, common
    ones include Resumes:
      There's a magazine called Freiberufler info  we're not
      associated in any way, but it may be of interest to people
      looking for jobs. Martin plans to ask them for a free entry
      in their list of Stammtisch Venues (& if they don't have
      a list, to start one).
    
      Random Job Agents.
        "Alle Angaben Ohne Gewaehr " ie Don't Blame me ! These agents may be good, bad, or
        indifferent. 
         Do come to our Stammtisch & tell us if you have
        particularly good or bad experience with any, & then
        send me  a follow up email to confirm
        name of company for praise or deletion. Some of these are
        just companies who asked to be mentioned. At a single
        complaint from MECC members, I'll remove bad agents, being
        listed does not mean they're necessarily good, just they
        exist (or did once). 
         Alphabetic by web ref. 
        Worst Agents & Customers.
        Non/ Late/ Under/ Arguing etc bad Agents &/or
        customers.
          Of course there are rogue agents, also rogue contractors,
          & rogue customers, If you've been in the business
          long enough, you'll have seen all types, though not all
          readily discuss or admit all categories exist. 
           We don't publish the latest rotten scenarios in public
          forums, (may be contentious, possibility of litigation,
          etc). This author does not have time to answer mail about
          it, Don't ask, Come to our Stammtisch to discuss such
          & other stuff there.)Worst Agents - Criteria
          Some agents are worse than others, Criteria can include
          eg: to (Worst rates , Biggest
          commissions (one big one alleged to take 35%, another
          claims 20%), Slow payment, Non payment if customer fails
          to pay, Too intrusive, Evil contract
          clauses , eg `screw you 25K Euro without independent
          review by court, etc ). 
           I could set up a password locked web page, 
            For members only, moving to there, the above list of
            "Random Job Agents" converting to a table, & adding
            2 columns: each with links: "Reccomended by" & "Not
            Reccomended By". Text to document/ justify
            Reccomended/Not reccomended would be on your web, not
            mine.
           
        
          Agents brain wash with frequent false
          glib assertions. Here's some possible counter mantras
          to think: 
          
            (feel lucky if you've only dealt with fully trust
          worthy open & honest agents)."Never Trust An Agent!"
"Would I buy a used car from this Agent
            ?""I'm just part of the daily quota this Agent has
            to sell"If you want to know a low rate from a good rate, don't
        trust many agents who will say "This is a good rate", some
        few will be truthful, & many not, often enough it'll be
        a poor rate. Ask your fellow contractors at the Stammtisch
        for their opinion. (Don't ask this author by mail though,
        he does not have time for personal mail)Some agents work in tandem: eg a UK agent recruits for
        a Munich agent for a Munich job. Both are reluctant to
        accept a halved normal commission, so raise the total
        commission prior to splitting, by further reducing
        contractor's hourly rate from what customer is prepared to
        pay; it can sometimes still be worth it though.Some contractors like working regularly for agents, but
        at lower rates, & some prefer finding their own work,
        with more effort, for better rates, eg inc. (eg this author.Some agents can get a noticeably higher rate from a
        customer than a contractor could, negotiating direct, but
        few agents can achieve a willingness from a customer to pay
        an hourly rate for a contractor, that more than exceeds the
        lost commission, negotiating direct, so again, the agent
        forces down rates.
          The agencies & customers offering the lowest rates,
          create rods for their own backs: 
          
            They will recruit a combination of the worst &
            most desperate contractors.The new recruited will be first to go, with least
            compunction, when, realising how severely underpaid
            they are, they abandon ship for the first of many
            better paid jobs available.Same recruiting costs per head for agents, per less
            month's commission earned.More frequent induction/ lost time costs for
            employer while new contractors settle in, before moving
            on to better paid work. 
      False assertions can be numerous. The more cycnical, the more
      you can spot. Here's some samples: 
      If A Customer Doesn't Pay
      This author's first agent got to be an agent after his agent
      dissapeared with his money. 
       If you work direct, there's still risk some customers may
      try to evade payment in full or part, sooner or later. One
      does not have to accept being ripped off, eg this author has
      used German law twice to enforce payment. Others at Stammtisch  can tell similar tales.
    InsolvencyQuestions In German When Phone Searching For [Contractor or
    Employee] Jobs
      Free
      Translator Engines & german Dictionary &
      Tools,hr>Wer sonst in Ihrem Unternehmen koennte jemandem mit
      meinem Qualifikationen gebrauchen ?Hat Ihr Unternehmen anderer Abteilungen oder
      Tochtergesellschaften, die vielleicht jemandem mit meinen
      Faehigkeiten gebrauchen koennen ?Kennen sie jemandem, der mir einen Tip geben koennte
      ?Welche Firmen in dieser Gegend wachsen am schnellsten
      ?An wen sollte ich mich dort wenden ?Kennen Sie jemanden in Unternehmen X ?Wann erwarten Sie, dass in Ihrem Unternehmen eine Stelle
      frei wird ?Kennen Sie eine Unternehmenserweiterung oder neue
      Projekte, die eine freie Stelle schaffen Koennten ?Ist eine Veraenderung Ihres Mitarbeiterbedarfs abzusehen
      ? A Few Big Local CompaniesSome companies with a presence local to Munich are marked hereSome German Lists Of German CompaniesFrom John A Not looked at yet, I'll look later.Right To Sell 2nd Hand Software Licences 2012
      Copy of an email posting. 
       http://
      lists.freebsd.org/ mailman/ listinfo/ freebsd-ports
 http://lists.guug.de/
      pipermail/ sage/ 2012-July/ 001369.html
 to: ports@freebsd.org
 From: "Julian H. Stacey" <jhs@@@berklix.com>
 Date: Tue, 03 Jul 2012 15:05:49 +0200
 Cc: sage@@@guug.de
 Subject: European court allows software licence resale,
      & blocks PD capture ?
 German below - Deutsch Unten. Just for interest: Here is a European court
      judgment: REFERENCE for a preliminary ruling under Article 267
      TFEU from the Bundesgerichtshof (Germany), made by decision
      of 3 February 2011, received at the Court on 14 March 2011,
      in the proceedings
 UsedSoft GmbH v Oracle International Corp., Germanhttp://curia.europa.eu/ juris/ document/ document.jsf? text=
      &docid= 124564&pageIndex= 0&doclang= de&mode=
      req&dir= &occ= first∂= 1&cid=
      5204011
 English
 http://curia.europa.eu/ juris/ document/ document.jsf? text=
      &docid= 124564&pageIndex= 0&doclang= en&mode=
      req&dir= &occ= first∂= 1&cid=
      5204011
 My Summary ( IANAL = I Am Not A Lawyer ): Sofware licenses _Can_ be legaly resold. Judgement also seem to block a few ex- public domain
      authors who occasionaly try to claw back public domain
      software (inc. old versions!) to become their closed source.
      ( Some ports occasionaly removed from http://www.Freebsd.org/ports/
      inc. one recently) - -----Original Message----- From: Informationskanal zu
      aktuellen Entwicklungen im Informations- und Medienrecht
      [mailto:INFOLAW-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE] On Behalf Of Prof. Dr.
      Thomas HoerenSent: Dienstag, 3. Juli 2012 13:06
 To: INFOLAW-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE
 Subject: [INFOLAW-L] EuGH: Online-Erschöpfung
 Jaaaa - nach 30 Jahren Streit endlich das richtige
      Urteil in Sachen Online-Erschöpfung! EuGH, Urteil vom 3. Juli 2012 - Rechtssache
      C-128/11 EuGH erlaubt Weiterverkauf von gebrauchten
      Software-Lizenzen auch im Falle eines Onlinerewerbs. Das Recht auf ausschließliche Verbreitung der
      Programmkopien erschöpfe sich mit dem Erstverkauf.
      Stelle ein Konzern seinem Kunden eine Kopie zur
      Verfügung und erlaube ihm über einen Lizenzvertrag
      das unbefristete Nutzungsrecht dieser Kopie, so erlische sein
      Recht auf ausschließliche Verbreitung. Durch ein
      solches Geschäft werde nämlich das Eigentum an
      dieser Kopie übertragen Dem Weiterverkauf der Kopie
      könne er sich dann nicht mehr widersetzen. Das gelte
      auch für verbesserte und aktualisierte Fassungen - weil
      sie Bestandteil der Kopie seien. . 
      http://curia.europa.eu/ juris/ document/ document.jsf? text=
      &docid= 124564&pageIndex= 0&doclang= de&mode=
      req&dir= &occ= first∂= 1&cid=
      5204011 - - -- Prof. Dr. Thomas HoerenInstitut für Informations-, Telekommunikations- und
      Medienrecht
 Leonardo-Campus 9
 48149 Münster
 Tel.: +49/251/8338600
 Fax: +49/251/8338601
 http://www.uni-muenster.de/Jura.itm/Hoeren
 
      **************************************************************************
      INFOLAW-L Informationskanal zu aktuellen Entwicklungen im
      Informations- und Medienrecht Abmelden durch Mail an
      INFOLAW-L-SIGNOFF-REQUEST@LISTSERV.DFN.DEAdministrative Fragen oder Probleme an
      INFOLAW-L-request@LISTSERV.DFN.DE
 Archiv unter http://www.listserv.dfn.de/archives/infolaw-l.html
 Ergaenzende Materialien unter http://www.uni-muenster.de/Jura.itm/hoeren/
      **************************************************************************
 
Professional &/or Industry groups we know of in the
    Munich area
      Faraday Group
      (local arm of UK IEE (Institution of Electrical
      Engineers))
        
          Faraday has a Munich mail list run by Philip
          WaltersIEE had a list for Germany called CTR_DE which could
          be sub'
          toMaybe the BCS, British Computer Society might have
      local representation ? Anyone know ?The RA[e]S, Royal [Astronautical/Aeronautical ?] Society
      has a branch here, Bernadette @ Faraday is a
      memberSee also other groups on Techtalk@ list.BIM: Berkeley In
      Munich: A BSD-Unix group is being created in
      Munich.Are there perhaps also German speaking groups with
      similarly informal aims ? If so please let Author know, so he can
      update this page. 
 Here's a simple line drawing (click on map for larger). 
      (sure a `real' map would be nicer, but all maps I've seen are
      copyright. There's various web map services available, Here's a
      list.
 A couple of jokes, about Consultants,
    Engineers & Managers, English & German.
 Please do not email the Author questions.
 
      Do not ask him for job agency phone numbers etc, he is far
      too busy, doesn't normally use agents, & needs his time
      left un-consumed, to find his own customers, working direct.
      Instead look above .
    If you are a contractor & want to discuss or change this
    page,
 
      First join mecc@ Email List.Then Mail
      changes, ideally in Unix diff -c (context diff) format. The power control board at the top of this page (from a sawmill
    at glentleiten_freilichtmuseum_www.glentleiten.de.jpg ) might
    tempt people to other tech places to visit eg: 
    
    Pensions ? How long to live ?
 https://www.contractorcalculator.co.uk/
 Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed
 
 Temporary Parking Space below  Shop Software &
    E-Billing(First written in case an access fee needed to precede a
    possible Virtual
    Conference Event for VCFE
    2020 , generalised since, needs trimming when time permits 
     ) Corrections etc
    welcome
      
      
      Could charge a fee for issue of Virtual room name &
      password (though some servers specify only non commercial
      ).
      A few visitors may cheat & share, but most will pay
      access, especially if it's kept very cheap (No room rental,
      organisers & exhibitors travel etc expenses)
      Don't try to collect payment via credit card, too much
      trouble: initial merchant registration & ongoing 
      GDPR, customer data, VAT/MWST registration etc.
      Use PayPal (or other
      intermediary) so customers pay via credit card to PayPal, & PayPal pay to organiser's bank.
      PayPal from P's memory
      charge a few Euro per transaction + some percentage. Update experience
      welcome (I can't be bothered trying PayPal's application procedure, which
      tries to force me to use a language my
      company won't do business with their company in, (an
      incompetent PayPal
      decision wrongly based on IP number where my browser happens
      to be, ignoring Browser's explicit
      HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE=en-US,en
      preference.)
      That charge if that high would be a considerable addition to
      a normal physical hall entry fee of single digit Euros. Need
      checking.
      Selecting Amount To Pay on PayPal: P failed to get PayPal's variable amount to work,
      too complex. He got fixed amount buttons to work. One can
      have several buttons. Or a single pay button with a slider.
      One can also have hidden buttons with other fixed amounts.
      Pay Pal accepts multiple currencies.
      For simple events minimal buttons for all price options seem
      best
      For each payment, PayPal
      sends seller & buyer an email to confirm purchase. It can
      contain a standard invoice.
      So one could automate that to include virtual room name &
      password ?
      No, because of VAT/MWST See ***
      Below
      So don't send room & password from PayPal invoice system. Have a
      robot or human at event in country that recognises incoming
      "Paid" email from PayPal,
      & mails customer with room & password name. Ensure
      billable work is clearly performed in Event country, not
      customer country.
      Maybe more visitors with a Virtual Event than a physical
      event ? No expensive travel.
      *** Avoid other European (not just local
      event country) VAT Liability: [Despite liking EU, &
      loathing Brexit] EU VAT laws are Bad For Business: They
      burden small trading entities disproportionately who can't
      afford specialist employees to process the different VAT
      systems of each & every country in the EU.
      European Union national governments are all keen to claim VAT
      & MWST etc tax for services they claim are rendered &
      taxable in customer recipient's country.
      Small businesses have to file for VAT & reclaim in every
      country in EU they sell to, (which while do-able for giant
      companies is a nightmare for small companies).
      Politicians fail to realise: not all small businesses are
      local hair dressers & window cleaners, some small
      companies Do trade internationally, even Mostly
      internationally, localy country being a small or zero
      fraction of trade.
      Small companies burdened by EU's nightmare of bureaucracy,
      sometimes avoid cross border business, &/or close.
      A Nordic government pursued a UK vendor for a trifling VAT
      amount, no amount too small to avoid their hassle.
      Painfully slow & time wasting experiences trying to file
      for & reclaim smallish VAT amounts with numerous EU
      countries inc. eg Greece to UK.
      Perhaps for a first Virtual EVENT, on both adverts before
      payment & the standard invoice after payment, put some
      words like This Virtual Conference is hosted from Town
      Country. Purchasers of access are assumed for tax purposes to
      be purchasing in Country ... Don't waste effort checking
      where people pay or view from ;-) Not sufficient to keep
      every country in EU's tax authorities off your back forever,
      but maybe better than nothing, while organiser seeks
      advice? |