Tax?

[DarkMoS]

Hello everyone,
I live in Belgium and want to order the Sam & Max first season bundle.
So I checkout, enter my shipping and credit card information and when I look at the final invoice I see 34.95$ + 5.24$ (TAX) = 40.19$

I often shop online but it's the first time I got a "tax" to pay.
Can you tell me what it covers? Is it the shipping cost for the CD or is it completely unrelated?

Regards,
DM

[Emily]

Nope, it's not the same as shipping, and unfortunately we don't have any control over the tax that's charged. :( Our ecommerce provider charges that automatically based on where you live and what you're buying.

[Jojo]

Not to be nit-picky, but I'd really like to know what "tax" I'm paying 15% for, as well.
Sales tax? Customs? VAT?
That really should be specified for transparency's sake.

[tabacco]

We don't have any control over that part of the checkout process, unfortunately. The tax you're paying is entirely up to your country's laws regarding taxes and imports.

[Emily]

This is what Digital River said when I asked about it:

Sales tax is automatically computed on both product(s) and shipping costs. Pursuant to the Digital VAT Directive, as of 1st July 2003, European customers will be charged VAT on all downloadable digital products and services, including software.

[Jojo]

Thanks a lot!
My order will be underway soon.

Happy Holidays! :)