Some of you may be aware of the changes to UK law that governs online selling of digital products. The new law requires all individuals (or businesses) to be VAT registered if they are selling across the world; this also means it is necessary to record detailed information about the customer (IP Address, location, etc) and file quarterly tax returns.
This effects anyone that sells digital products directly from their own website without using a third party payment system (excluding PayPal). The problem here is that if I was to use another payment processor, such as ShareIt, the amount they take from the payment would leave me with a pittance, and so it’s just no feasible.
The only alternatives the HMRC suggest are to not sell outside of the UK (bit tricky online), or to become VAT registered and get an accountant to deal with the complex tax issues, or to pack it in.
I do not have the time or money to be able to deal with being VAT registered and so the following changes are being made with immediate effect:
All PC software is no longer available for purchase.
AutoWallpaper has been discontinued – the product pages will remain in place for registered users to download but there will not be any further development of the application.
Falling Down is still available on all platforms via 77apps.com.
Over the next few days the website will be adjusted to fully reflect these alterations. I will still continue developing both Asylum and Reflex, as well as other titles. At some point further down the line I will sort out a way to begin selling my PC games without putting me out of pocket. Reflex was originally intended to be a PC and mobile game and it is still my intention for that to happen but for the time being I will have to concentrate more on the mobile side as the app stores are stable platforms for indie developers.
None of this is something I really wanted to have to do but the red tape that has been put up is just too much for me.
