The end of cheap offshore CDs?
You probably know that several firms including Amazon, HMV and Tesco have moved CD fulfilment for online orders to Jersey, so they can sell CDs to the British market without charging them VAT – keeping prices below the £10 mark. For the consumer, it’s great, but for the small players, it’s another nail in the coffin. Well, it could be about to end.
The States of Jersey has given CD sellers a year to close up and leave. A statement explains that the system is "attracting some negative publicity which is in danger of undermining the Island’s good international reputation and integrity." Jersey will allow companies who set up a whole business there to keep operating, but companies that set up just a part of their business on the island, without any real benefit to the overall economy, will be asked to run down their operations over a period of time.
However, whether Jersey will actually take action is open to question. It made similar statements last year without taking action. We await their actions with interest.
Via The Register
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