Wow, johnnie, way to steal my thunder. :)

Johnnie is right. We've just launched international reports in 5 countries.

Elodie from our Payments Team just posted something to the Inside AdSense Blog, and you can find more information in the Help Center here [google.com].

I was getting all set to do a big announcement on WebmasterWorld about how you guys were always asking for this and we are launching it for many of you, but you beat me to it.

ASA

PS: You have no idea how hard it was to keep this launch a secret a few days ago when you guys were talking about the latest Euro exchange rate.

This is nice. I never real knew how much I made until I was paid.

ASA, that link goes to a page that has no information on it. I'm looking at it in IE. I was looking for information on how the exchange rate was calculated.

From the AdSense blog post:

The party that publishers are contracting with changes from Google Inc. to Google Ireland Limited.

Publishers are responsible for paying any local taxes in their jurisdiction. Google will only issue VAT refunds to publishers with an address in Ireland.

Not a tax expert, but does that mean publishers outside Ireland will have to deduct VAT from their payments?
Or does Google issue the payment as VAT reversed charge with their VAT number included on the payment report?

hopefully, one day they will include UK GBP

What exchange rate is applied, for someone that pays for an ad (click) in Dollars, and a publisher that serves the content and wants payment in Europe?

do we HAVE to switch? because I wouldn't do it.

I mean how can you then make a statistical analysis, when the exchange rate is chaning all the time so quickly in these days? One day you get more although you have earned less just because of the exchange rate.

Great! Google Ireland but did they add Ireland? Still from a VAT point of view, Google Ireland would have to add Irish VAT to payments to Irish publishers and EUsian publishers, I think.

Regards...jmcc

HuhuFruFru,

for publishers who serve mainly ads from advertizers paying in EUROs (like myself) the effect should be opposite and lead to more reliable statistics.

Ah that's true OW! I totally forgot that.

But do I understand it correctly: advertisers in Europe pay in EURO, it is converted into USD for the auction system and then again converted into EURO for the publisher reports?

I suggest to think VERY carefully before accepting the new Adsense TOS to get the Euro payments, because the contract partner changes from Google, Inc., to Google Ireland Ltd.

This change could have some severe effects on the VAT handling.

I'd like to see some very clear information from Google how VAT is being handled for those operating as publishers in the EU and opting in to Euro billing.

Yes, basically all euro-publishers will have an extra cost to pay: the vat. Personally I'm saying goodbuy to 22% of my earnings the moment I sign the new TOS.

And the Adsense Blog says this change may be a must (you cannot avoid it) in the future. "We encourage you to update your account to local currency reports soon, as we may require this change in the future."

This is the single most horrible Adsense news ever. Add this to the current financial crisis eating away earnings, and this must kill/crush/wipe out countless adsense publishers for good.

:-(

Google would have to pay the publishers the Irish VAT on top of their earnings. The VAT would have to be declared if the publisher is registered for VAT in their EU country. It all gets very messy, very quickly.

Regards...jmcc

I don't understand this VAT thing. Could somebody care to elaborate? I have always been extremely bad at taxes.

Google would have to pay the publishers the Irish VAT on top of their earnings.

from Inside-Adsense blog:
"Google will only issue VAT refunds to publishers with an address in Ireland."

I can't make sense of this at all... Does this mean if you live in the EU but not in Ireland that you have to pay VAT, but you can't claim it from Google?

Edit: To clarify, are the earnings out of the scope of UK VAT, like they are at the moment in the US?

[edited by: nrep at 12:38 pm (utc) on Mar. 4, 2009]

In the EU VAT is relatively simple between two businesses:

Local:
You sell something, you add VAT to the total amount.
The VAT you collect, will have to be sent to the appropriate government instance.
Minus any VAT you are entitled to subtract from it due to VAT you paid to other businesses.

So in this case if you are in Ireland, Google will pay the VAT to you, you pay it to the Irish government and the Irish Government pays it pack to Google (efficiency never was a forte of governments)

Inside the EU, but outside your local country:
General principle, as a business: you do not need to collect VAT on all goods sold (and exported). You do need to collect local VAT on services.
There is a list of virtually impossible to comprehend exceptions on kinds of services that do not need the VAT to be collected.
If you pay VAT to a foreign entity within the EU, you are *still* entitled to get it back, but you need to get it back not from your local government, but from the foreign one. Which is as huge hassle, so nobody ever wants to pay that foreign VAT and will always look in the exceptions to try to wriggle under one of them.
So the regular rule would be: you add to the total local VAT; Google pays the full amount including the VAT; You send the VAT on to your government and Google gets it back from your government -eventually-. Unless there is an applicable exception...

Outside the EU:
No VAT to be collected.

exceptions
Now there are businesses that do not need to collect VAT at all, mainly either pensioners or specific business branches that were riddled with fraud when they let them collect it. Etc.
If you are not a business, ... you probably are in legal trouble if you have an adsense account that generates enough money to worry about VAT. Having the income come from a EU based entity might mean you're a bit more exposed than having it come from a US entity.

So if Google is claiming to not have to pay us publishers in other EU countries VAT, Google should clearly indicate which of the exceptions applies to them.
A simple printable statement from Google pointing to the right exception in the EU regulations they claim will be more than enough to pass most local tax audits.

Aside of this lack of pointer to the regulation they claim, contracting with a EU based legal entity and having only to deal with local regulations is a blessing. US tax regulations, the IRS, EINs, etc. are just alien to the local bean-counters.

Which countries can switch and how do you do it ?

[edited by: swa66 at 12:39 pm (utc) on Mar. 4, 2009]

Hmm... Also, from Google's help, freely translated from Dutch to English:

Why do the earnings on my reports page differ from those on the payment page?

A difference in earnings on these respective pages reflects a difference in intra-month exchange rates. On your report page, daily exchange rates are used. This rate fluctuates during the entire month of operations. When your account credit gets paid in US dollars to your newly set currency, we use the exchange rate of the day of payment.

If that is true, we're not being helped at all. It will only get more confusing. What a mess. And then considering I was so happy to get this in the first place!

[edited by: johnnie at 12:37 pm (utc) on Mar. 4, 2009]

Does this mean if you live in the EU, but not in Ireland, that you have to pay VAT, but you can't claim it from Google?

ASA?

If Google Ireland is VAT registered in Ireland, it may have to add VAT to payments to Irish/EU publishers. The Irish/EU publishers, where they are registered for VAT, would then have to include this VAT in their VAT returns. If you are a VAT registered publisher in another EU country (other than Ireland), I think that Google Ireland can request your VAT number so that it does not have to add VAT to the payments and the publisher may still have to include the VAT deducted in their VAT return. (I think.) This is why it is good to let accountants handle VAT and tax issues instead of web developers.

Regards...jmcc

VAT is A country tax, if a good or service is for a foreign country don't aplly.
But, if a good is for a final costumer (outside or not)some countries apply.
Now advertizers outside Ireland don't pay VAT in ads except ones who pay for google local country.
Now, accounts outside ireland receive the same without VAT, publishers in Ireland receive + VAT.

This stuff change in 2010 with new EU tax's rules, until there is the same. Only reports change, except someone don't declare google income value to IRS, but even in dollars income need to be declared.

Follow up on my post above. Services for both marketing purposes and electronically delivered services seem to be in the list of exceptions. Still it would be easier to have a clear statement from Google to justify the lack of VAT charged on intracommunity services.

Also Google's VAT number in Ireland would be needed to proof they are a business and need not to be invoiced VAT.

If anybody wants to read it:
[eur-lex.europa.eu...] Article 56 (b) and (k)

[edited by: swa66 at 1:04 pm (utc) on Mar. 4, 2009]

OK, let's see what happens. Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm horrible at this, but I want to make sure I understand.

- A user clicks an ad on a publisher's site
- An advertiser pays google the cpc + some VAT
- The advertiser, being a taxable business, reclaims the VAT
- Google pays the publisher its share + some VAT (? if not, why not?)
- Google, being a taxable business, reclaims the VAT
- The publisher reports the VAT and pays it to the government

If I understand correctly, google is legally obliged to pay VAT to publishers, since they are buying a commodity (ad space) from them. Since Google Ireland and the publisher are in one economic space (the EU), doesn't this still hold?

If publishers are not being paid VAT by google, then do publishers still have to pay VAT to their government? That would be a total rip-off.

It depends on whether the publisher has an agreement with Google Inc or Google Ireland, Johnnie,
A Google Ireland agreement puts it within the EU tax framework.

Regards...jmcc

If you change your account currency, will that change your agreement to one with G Ireland? But to reiterate my last question; if google doesn't pay me VAT (I'm outside Ireland, but inside the EU), will I still be taxed for selling something?

Google Ireland would, theoretically, have to include VAT. If you are registered for VAT then Google Ireland could ask you for your VAT number and would not have to include VAT. You would have to declare this on your VAT return form. If you are not registered for VAT, Google Ireland would have to include VAT. VAT is separate from Income Tax. (I'm not an accountant and it might be best to ask a local accountant or the local government tax office.)

Regards...jmcc

I think that it is pretty clear regarding VAT:
"The new terms make clear that publishers are responsible for paying any local taxes in their jurisdiction. Google will only issue VAT refunds to publishers with an address in Ireland. "

I do not see what is here changed for publisher within EU except for publisher within Ireland.
It was case before also that we are responsible to paying local taxes. Google have also before not refunds VAT to any EU publishers.
Only news is that Google will refunds VAT to publisher in Ireland.
I still do not understand what is changed for publisher in EU regarding taxes except Ireland.
Or maybe i do not understand difference between VAT and income Tax.
As individual i do not have VAT.

Only news is that Google will refunds VAT to publisher in Ireland.

No Google will not (at least not at this moment) because publishers in Ireland are not allowed to change. Only publishers from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain are allowed to change.

The funniest thing of all is that publishers in Ireland are not included in Google Ireland's five countries. This does not seem to have been well thought out.

From the Inside Adsense blog: "The governing law changes from California law to either English or local law."

And for five points, Google Ireland is in which European country?

Regards...jmcc