So I was recently checking out my Stripe account when I saw that I had 11 countries that I have to register to collect VAT for. I am in the US and all the countries are from the EU. According to the fees info, Ribblr is supposed to be collecting it unless we are misunderstanding or it is only referring to UK residents.
Here is what I found:
Is Ribblr not collecting VAT?
Wow! Thatās confusing! I have absolutely no idea 
I hope youāre able to find out and know what you need to do. Iām so sorry 
I really donāt knowā
ā¦
@ribblr-support can you help us please 
Iām not sure, but I know @Centaraās been having issues with this too. She might know more
Hi there,
Shops on Ribblr are set up as the merchant of record, which means you are selling directly to the buyer and collecting the payment instantly. Therefore Ribblr is not generally collecting or remitting taxes on your behalf.
Stripe or other softwares may help identify potential tax obligations, but youāll need to consult a tax professional in your jurisdiction to understand exactly what you nee to do. Taxes can unfortunately get quite complicated, especially internationally!
Then why does it say Ribblr will collect it? Iām sorry but your answer is not good enough. You should be collecting VAT according to your policy. People think it is being done when it isnāt and that is not ok.
You need to remove that from your policy and replace it with your tax expert response thenā¦
Iām glad I donāt have to do taxes yet
Ya this seems like smthn I wonāt be able to help with, sry.
You are required to be registered to collect VAT with every purchase from the EU if you do not live there according to Stripe.
You have 3 options. Block all EU payments on stripe if you want to avoid it which charges a fee, register in every country you get a payment from and pay the VAT (Stripe charges $90 per month to do it for you), or remove all paid patterns from Ribblr and use a site that collects VAT on your behalf.
This isnāt income tax related, this is sales tax related. Selling patterns does mean you need to be aware of your sales tax regulations. Most states donāt require you collect sales tax on digital patterns but some do. And as Sierra mentioned, sales of patterns to the EU do require you collect and remit VAT if you donāt live there, which is their form of sales tax. There is no minimum threshold either. Even just one sale makes you liable.
This is extremely unclear with the way ribblr is set up and I was sad to learn about it. But until I can find a way to block all EU transactions or something else is fixed, itās not feasible for me to spend my time enrolling for vat in a new country any time someone from the EU spends a couple bucks on a pattern. Plus the customer isnāt being charged the VAT. We have to pay it out of our profits the way itās set up. May only be a few cents but with the fees charged, it really does eat into any earnings =/ ravelry charges the customer for it so itās not hitting the designers profit
