Sky Digital VAT Refunds for Channel Islands / Isle of Man

davemathieson

Hi,


Sky Digital customers in the Channel Islands are not charged VAT, as they do not pay UK VAT, I cannot post links as a new forum user, but references can be found easily online, including on Sky's own website.


I live on the Isle of Man, and have heard recently via word of mouth and on social networking that due to an apparent VAT agreement between the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, Sky Digital customers from the Isle of Man shouldn't be paying UK VAT on their Sky Digital package either. I cannot find anything online about this so called agreement, so may be untrue, as far as I am concerned IOM pay the same as UK VAT.


I emailed Sky to enquire about this, and they immediately reduced my bill ongoing by 16.67%, not 20% VAT but still, if this agreement wasn't in place, would they be so quick to concede? I didn’t complain about the price or the service, specifically the VAT. I also asked for a refund for the VAT payments made since I had my account, but they are not forthcoming (understandably!). They would recoup the money I have asked for in under 12 months from me anyway, as opposed to losing my custom altogether. Surely if they are agreeing to reduce my bill, they are accepting they are wrong, and have been overcharging so should refund?


Do I stand any chance of getting my back paid VAT charges refunded? Does anyone know if this VAT Isle of Man / Channel Islands agreement is in place? Do you know if any Channel Islands residents have been able to receive a refund instead of just a reduced bill?


I previously reclaimed my bank charges after getting the information off here, and after mentioning small claims court and the financial ombudsman they conceded quickly. Would this help in this case?


This could potentially save a lot of people on this website a lot of money. I read online Sky made profits of £1.3 billion in June!


Thanks

[Deleted User]

davemathieson wrote: »

I emailed Sky to enquire about this, and they immediately reduced my bill ongoing by 16.67%, not 20% VAT but still, if this agreement wasn't in place, would they be so quick to concede?

Did they "concede" though? I'd like to know exactly what their written response was.

davemathieson wrote: »

I read online Sky made profits of £1.3 billion in June!

I think that was for the entire year to June, not just in one month.:eek:

davemathieson

Yes I know it wasn't just for June, it was year ending 30th June but didn't think it was that important or would need to be picked up on.

Reply as below:

"I understand that you're concern about the VAT offer and the charges on your Sky account.
I have applied the Channel Island VAT offer on your Sky account and it is effective in your Sky bills from today (25/12/2013).
I'm sorry to inform you that I'm unable to apply the credit for the previous VAT charges on your Sky account (As per Sky Working Guidelines).
Your current Sky bill due on 24/12/2013 is £67.25.
Your next Sky bill due on 24/01/2014 will be £45.20 and your future Sky bill due on 24/02/2014 will be £56.04 (Excluding any Sky Box Office charges).
I hope you understand our situation in this matter.
Click here to visit our My Sky area on Sky.com:
On My Sky you can view your bill, use Sky Go, upgrade your Sky subscription, access treats and rewards, change your payment details, make a payment, set up additional users and more.
You can also use the Sky Active services on your Sky box, by pressing 'Interactive' and selecting Sky Active, Provided an active telephone line is connected to the Sky box.
On Sky Active you can view your bill, upgrade your Sky subscription, change your payment details, make a payment, view our 'Help & Support' articles and more.
I hope I have been able to resolve your enquiry. If not, you can click here between 07:00 am to 11:00 pm to chat with us online.
This link will expire on 1st January.
Kind regards
Mustafa
Sky Help Centre"

[Deleted User]

davemathieson wrote: »

"I'm sorry to inform you that I'm unable to apply the credit for the previous VAT charges on your Sky account (As per Sky Working Guidelines)".

I see no reason why they can't refund earlier VAT payments since Sky will have pocketed this money and the Exchequer will have received nothing.
Tell Sky you don't accept their decision and threaten them with the regulator if they don't comply.

noh

VAT is correctly applied you are not due a refund.
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageLibrary_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000130&propertyType=document#P109_7691

davemathieson

Thanks for the replies. I agree with you MI and will give it a shot, just could do with knowing if I have a leg to stand on and best way about it.

Noh - seen many links agreeing with yours as I implied, and none backing me, which makes me wonder why talk of this is doing the rounds, and why they agreed to discount!?

If anyone has any more info/suggestions/history please let me know.

noh

I suspect they have just given you a discount to keep you happy.
I think that you will still be charged VAT on your future bills your charges will have been reduced by 16.67% which gives the same final figure as if VAT wasn't applied.

londonTiger

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

I see no reason why they can't refund earlier VAT payments since Sky will have pocketed this money and the Exchequer will have received nothing.
Tell Sky you don't accept their decision and threaten them with the regulator if they don't comply.

Not true, VAT registerted businesses are in effect tax collectors. Every penny of VAT that is invoiced and collected is handed over to HMRC**.

I think in OPs circumstance their computers/system isn't designed to deal with channel islands situation so they just reduced the price to a lower rate as it's simpler. They have decided to just absorb the VAT anyway even though they shouldn't need to.

**Minus input VAT (VAT paid on goods and services the business pays for).

[Deleted User]

londonTiger wrote: »

Not true, VAT registerted businesses are in effect tax collectors. Every penny of VAT that is invoiced and collected is handed over to HMRC**.

Even when VAT is not payable in the Isle Of Man /Channel Isles? Should the OP now approach HMRC for a refund then?

londonTiger

I don't know what the OP should do, don't know anything about Isle of man tax situation. Just pointing out that the company is not "pocketing" the vat.

Calfuray

I used to work for $ky, so bear in mind this info may be out of date:

The info we call centre agents were given was that the VAT discount was applied as a goodwill gesture, and was not to be backdated. If an agent tried to give credit for prev bills, credit was declined by Credit Compliance team.