E-Commerce

Have you ever brought a CD, Book, or Video, booked a flight, accommodation or train ticket, have you sent flowers, chocolates, got your car insurance, mortgage or credit card on the internet? If the answer is yes, then yes you have E-commerce is doing business electronically by computer.

Why would businesses be Interested in E-Commerce?

E-commerce is attractive because it reduces the cost of doing business. Sending a few bytes of data over a network is cheaper, faster and more convenient than sending a messenger or even making a phone call.

In the good old days, business was pretty simple. I had a pig, you had some wool; we showed up at the market and haggled, then I went home to knit a cardigan while you had a BBQ.

Nowadays we don’t have to show up at the market, and we don’t even need physical goods or currency to conduct business. Electronic commerce is the most recent step in the evolution of business transactions. It replaces (or augments) the swapping of money or goods with the exchange of information from computer to computer. *Extract from cio.com*

There are four generally accepted types of e-commerce:

Business to Business (B2B)
Business to Consumer (B2C)
Government to Business
Government to Citizen

All of these types of transaction can take place between parties located within the UK; between the UK and the EU; and between the UK and other parts of the world, for both goods and services.

What is the VAT treatment of these transactions?

The VAT treatment depends on the nature of the goods or services supplied and their place of supply. Click here to see the HM Customs and Excise information specific to your business.

How Can I set up E-Commerce for my Business?

Many Web Hosting or Web Design company’s offer packages or services to set up e-commerce specific to your business needs, shop around to get the best price and solution for you.