serving adult sites from the UK

[Jeff Buckley]

Hi - if this has been asked before (and it most likely has) please forgive me and point me in the right direction - I did search, honest!

Where might the law stand on running a HC pay for entry website from the UK...does it need to be served from outside the country? Or is it all well and good in this digital age?

Thanks in anticipation

JB

[Mark]

You can't host Hardcore on a UK server.

If you do stumble upon UK hosting companies offering "adult website hosting" then they will have their adult servers in another country where the law allows it.

You shouldn't having any trouble with hosting your hardcore in other legal countries with well established adult hosts. It's not big deal not having any UK hardcore hosting.

Mark

http://www.ukpornarchive.com

[Mayfair & MensWorld]

Just remember that you're liable for VAT on every membership, because you're based in the UK that's all the IR will care about. And most UK webmasters don't seem to realise they're VAT liable.

[Joe A]

The VAT situation is still in debate all over the UK webmasters forums.

Most of us do not actually collect a direct payment as we use 3rd parties such as AC Pay and CCBill. We do not have the details of the person who signs up to our sites so are unable to collect or charge VAT directly.

Those of us who run avs sites are paid a commission by companies such as Adult Check and Cyber Age and so we are not liable but they are if deemed necessary.

Here are some links to a couple of posts about this:





Or go to:



And type in "vat" in the search box to see more posts.

This is going to be a major pain to everyone in this biz..

[Jason]

bear in mind though you are only liable for VAT if your turnover exceeds a set amount

It used to be ?47,500 per annum which in adult website terms is quite a lot (at $20 per month that would equate to about 70 signups a week which is fairly good going!)

Jason

[Mayfair & MensWorld]

Be careful, guys. You're clouding the waters a little.

The UK webmaster is liable for VAT regardless of who *collects* the money for you overseas. Telling the IR that "iBill did it and then ran away!" doesn't make any difference, as a lot of people will find out when the men in suits start knocking on doors, which they undoubtedly will. As to the VAT threshold mentioned by Jason, I'm talking about website memberships, which are VAT-able on *every* transaction, not your annual earnings threshold as a snapper, plumber, sparks etc.

This is something that UK webmasters need to take as seriously as where they upload their material from.

Another point, remember that if your server is in the US, you can't *legally* upload material to it from this country. You either have to send a hard drive over to your server people, or hop on a flight to Amsterdam and do it from there.

I don't know if any of you remember, but some poor guy was sent down a couple of years ago for uploading hardcore gay porn and scat stuff to his US server because he did it from his base in Hants. He thought he was safe, but got about 18 months for his trouble.

See? These are some of the rather bizarre snippets of info I pick up, despite being involved in the print media. And to think I got half-flamed last week!

[Jeff Buckley]

This is fascinating and obviously to do it right needs a bit of planning that not everyone is currently doing!?!

Thanks guys.

JB

[Scott]

Mayfair- you seem to have your figure incorrect to the present date. Tax year ending 2002/03 has a cap of ?53,000 before you notify the Inland Revenue and if you exceed ?55,000 you will need to register for VAT.

[Jason]

wasnt aware that was the case and I stand corrected (doesnt make much sense but I aint gonna argue!) - good job I aint in this game no more! lol

Jason

[Jeff Buckley]

And is anyone knowledgable about the law governing what can and cannot be performed within a pay per view webcam site based in the UK?