BUSINESS owners who will be hit by new EU tax laws for trading online have vowed to continue their fight against Brussels.

Witney-based author Juliet Souch has met with MEPs and senior members of the EU Commission to discuss the new laws, which came in at the start of January.

The mother-of-two, who writes under the name Juliet McKenna, said: “We have cross-party support for our campaign. It’s not a party political issue.

“All of us are involved in this because our livelihoods are directly threatened by it.”

Our top stories

It is the latest stage of a four-month battle against EU law changes designed to force internet giants such as Amazon to pay more tax.

Last week Ms McKenna, who helped set up campaign group EU VAT, and others had discussions with senior officials from HMRC and the Treasury at Downing Street and in February, Ms McKenna met David Cameron at his Witney constituency office.

Witney Gazette:

From left, Juliet McKenna, Clare Josa of EU VAT Action and Daniel Korski, special advisor to David Cameron at Downing Street.

Before the new legislation, VAT was charged at the rate of the country where the seller is based but is now charged according to where the customer is. For example if an Oxfordshire-based firm sold something to a customer in Hungary they’d have to pay a rate of 27 per cent, above the 20 per cent in the UK.

And anyone selling digital services abroad must register for VAT, even if their turnover is under the £81,000 threshold.

The new law applies to downloadable and online images or text, including screensavers, e-books, knitting or dressmaking patterns, music, films and games, online magazines and software updates.

Claire Jarvis, who co-owns Chipping Norton-based knitting shop Fibreworks, said said: “The changes in law have prompted a lot of people to withdraw their patterns from sale online and that’s a real shame.” She added typically knitting patterns usually cost just £2-£5 and said: “It’s not as though these people are going to bring down their country’s economy.”

David Cameron challenged European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker about the VAT changes in a speech last week, warning they will harm micro businesses.

MEPs from 16 EU countries are calling for an urgent revision of the new rules.