The Taxman, that is -- or at least someone named Tax Anderton, who is part of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. He's in-world and available to residents who want to ask questions about taxes related to their in-world businesses.

Now, if this doesn't make you run screaming, then someone ask this guy if there's more information regarding the possibility that SL is going to be taxed, as people have been talking about since the initial announcement. First the VAT thing; is America next? Maybe Mr. Anderton knows! Ooh, I just had a Matrix flashback. "That is the sound of inevitability." *shudder*

(Via accountancyage)

A number of factors lately seem to have contributed to increasing the friction between different nationalities and cultures of residents within Second Life.

Firstly, of course, we have the ... robust nature of some of the political extrusions into Second Life - largely harmless and inconsequential wars between small numbers of ideological groups - though no less deadly serious to the participants.

Zee Linden, Linden Lab's CFO, will be conducting a voice town hall on VAT issues for European residents. The Town Hall is to take place on Monday 8 October at 11AM SLT (US Pacific) at the usual place (the big stage in Pooley).

If you don't have voice available, you will need a voice-enabled friend to handle asking questions and transcribing answers for you.

Zee Linden has attached the VAT FAQ and answers a number of additional questions in his posting. Zee adds, "If you have more questions, I encourage you to download the VAT FAQ, refer to our knowledgebase, send me a message in-world, or come to the discussion Monday (again, please come prepared with voice enabled so you can hear, as I'll be answering chat questions by voice to be most efficient with the time.)"

Thanks to the new VAT bombshell, one of SL's most beautiful and influential sims is in danger of disappearing. Lauk's Nest, created by Laukosargas Svarog, was later sold to Lukas Mensing when Svarog decided to pursue other projects. Lukas has been maintaining it ever since. However, Lukas's VAT on Lauk's Nest is 25%, which is rather steep. So now Lauk's Nest is once again available for sale. It could be saved by someone from a non-VAT-enabled country purchasing it, or we could try a different approach.

WIth the exception of the sim that Linden Village is on, does LL own and maintain any other areas? I'd love to see LL take over Lauk's Nest and host it for the enjoyment of all. Think about it: it's famous, it's an amazing build, it's great for PR purposes. You could call it SL's Yosemite National Park. LL could use it in all their promotional materials as a shining example of the possibilities of SL. When the mainstream press is still so hung up on all the sensational aspects of SL, a showing like this would help to offset that perception. What do you think? Any other ideas?

(Thanks, Morris!)

According to Robin Linden, Linden Lab started paying VAT on payments from EU residents in July this year [The source we drew this from, apparently is incorrect. Linden Lab did not start paying VAT in July], only this week passing on the tax to EU residents. While my own nation (Australia) has a similar tax, the laws don't apply in this respect (though L$ earnings count as capital gains, and when I convert L$ to another currency, that's taxable income).

In fact, one of my commercial services is getting to the point where I'll have to either refuse business to EU residents or charge and pay VAT to the EU - the fact that I'm not an EU business has no bearing.

Here's the question, for EU residents - It's obvious that the EC regulations in this are placing you at a competitive disadvantage. Are you planning to lodge a complaint with the European Commission about this requirement of the VAT-on-E-Commerce directive? Have you done so already?

According to an email I've just received, and which is being twittered and IMed about like mad, all EU residents will be paying VAT on their bills to LL. What fun.

The email to me is reproduced below.

Hello, Eloise Pasteur.

We have identified that you reside in a European country. Accordingly, your next bill will reflect Value Added Tax (VAT) charged at the rate specified by your country. Please note that VAT applies to all payments to Linden Lab such as land sales, monthly maintenance fees and Premium subscription fees.
If you are eligible for a VAT exemption, you may submit proof of your exemption status, such as your VAT number, here:
https://secondlife.com/account/vat_enter_id.php

If you have other questions, please read the VAT FAQ:
http://secondlife.com/corporate/vat.php

You can also contact us via the support portal:
http://secondlife.com/support

Best regards, and thank you for your continuing support.


Linden Lab
Creators of Second Life