Dragon Age - 25% Off on Steam

kalniel said:

Presumably Play will have already included VAT in that price then? They add it automatically for the UK so anything under £18 is without VAT, anything over has it included in the price.

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I don't see any notices to that effect, so it seems unlikely, as others who collect VAT usually say so (e.g. Steam). Maybe it's done for UK folks only. But correct me if I'm wrong, maybe it's only displayed later in the checkout process.

Play.com has little reason to care whether customers from elsewhere defraud their local customs office, though. Very few will be caught, so they won't exactly lose many customers because of that.

The import duty doesn't have to be paid in the UK but it does to other EU countries. VAT is payed by Play for UK anyway so whatever price is down at Play is what you pay. That's why there is an Amazon Jersey that ships to the UK now. At least, that's my understanding of the situation.

For Norway, which is outside the EU, VAT is added by customs for goods above 200NOK, about £20. And the postal system claims a fee for handling the VAT. But there's no VAT on digital downloads. Therefore, for us Steam may come out cheaper than play.com, even if their price is nominally higher.