[wonderingstar]

Doing a quick comparison of professional software prices in the EU and US reveals that EU people are being fleased for all they are worth. For example you can order Logic Platinum 6 for $699 in the US but it costs £530 (inc VAT) in the UK. With the current exchange rate $699 = £386. If you are a student it's even worse. You don't get a student discount in the UK on Logic or Cubase and many others (you need to purchase for a school to qualify), but in the US it's quite common, so Logic Platinum 6 goes for $499!!! For a poor student in the UK it's more than a little frustrating. :/

Does anyone know if it's possible to use software like Logic or Cubase purchased in the US on UK G5 macs? Are there any ways to make it work?

I really hope someone out there can help.

[Mr. Blur]

remember - you are comparing your *after* VAT price with a USA *before* tax price. Before making a decision to buy elsewhere, check your local regulations for importing as they may add the VAT on when it gets there anyway, which may (or may not) make the difference so large.

[Mediaman_12]

Yes there is no real problem in buying Apps from the US and getting them shipped to the UK. BUT unless you know someone who can buy the stuff for you in the US and personally ship the item to you in a package marked PERSONAL GIFT it get real expensive, as not only do you have to pay the international shipping but you will also have to pay UK customs charges, import duty and VAT on the lot.
I bought 'Star Trek Voyager Elite Force' like this (the US release was months before the UK one and it seamed cheaper too) a few weeks after a received the delivery I got a bill from the Uk Customs and Excise totally wiping out any saving I had made.

look here for more info.

[ghporter]

Yep. The "Tax Man" that the Beatles sang about is still alive and well. He's just taxing blokes differently, that's all. Instead of bleeding you dry with income tax, he's zapping you with that "VAT"-which is not supposed to mean "very angrymaking tax."

The gift thing is the way to go, but it must appear to EVERYONE that it's a legitimate gift, with wrapping, a nice card and so on. A little letter saying how they're really looking forward to your next visit can help too. Customs folks are human, and have a lot to do. They're also incredibly paranoid nowadays. Make their job easier, if not making the Crown richer, by showing exactly what is in the package, but making it a gift.

That means discussing things with your gift-giving friend online, or through third parties, not in something that can be tracked to your mailing address. And DON'T make things quid pro quo; give a gift in return, not a cheque or money order. That's just too obvious.

Of course the trick is to find the appropriate friend in the States.

[Ambassadeur]

Originally posted by GHPorter:
Yep. The "Tax Man" that the Beatles sang about is still alive and well. He's just taxing blokes differently, that's all. Instead of bleeding you dry with income tax, he's zapping you with that "VAT"-which is not supposed to mean "very angrymaking tax."

The gift thing is the way to go, but it must appear to EVERYONE that it's a legitimate gift, with wrapping, a nice card and so on. A little letter saying how they're really looking forward to your next visit can help too. Customs folks are human, and have a lot to do. They're also incredibly paranoid nowadays. Make their job easier, if not making the Crown richer, by showing exactly what is in the package, but making it a gift.

That means discussing things with your gift-giving friend online, or through third parties, not in something that can be tracked to your mailing address. And DON'T make things quid pro quo; give a gift in return, not a cheque or money order. That's just too obvious.

Of course the trick is to find the appropriate friend in the States.

AFAIK, even gifts have to be taxed and paid duty for nowadays. I think the limit is around 25$, so anything else might lead to a problem, gift wrap or not if you happen to end up with the wrong person checking your package. That's what a european duty official told me when I asked about shipping stuff back. Marking it personal or even used stuff does no good either sometimes. A friend of mine ended up with a letter asking for tax and duty for his personal used stuff he shipped back from the US to Europe. Took him 4 letters to clear matters up... Weird. So they even consider smelly clothes tax-worthy

Don't want to spoil any plans, just help you to avoid "possible" pitfalls. And there always is the chance you completely forget to mention what you have in your suitcase (probably you had too many drinks on board) when coming back from an overseas trip... ooops

[wonderingstar]

Thanks for the tips everyone. It seems even if I do get a friend (or sympathetic business) to package the order as a gift (not that I would ever do something so dishonest like that, of course!), there is still the risk of paying duties and tax. But even so, in this case even if import duty is something rediculous like 30% and with VAT on top of that it will still work out cheaper!!!

Yes I was using the pre tax US prices, but US tax seems to be a lot less than UK tax anyway, so the yawning price differential is still there. I just think it's a little sick that creative software companies make a point of penalizing students in europe, just because overall the market can bare the inflated prices. Rant over.