Comment by BobaFloutist

8 days ago

VAT doesn't exist in the US (and sales tax, which we do have, is more like 5-10% of sale cost), so are you talking about something specific to tech companies in Germany or the UK or something?

Not that everything has to be about the US, but it's weird to make a claim about the tech market as a whole that doesn't apply to its biggest single region.

Yep, I've used the € sign for a reason, to make sure people won't get confused.

The article goes into considerable detail about the EU tech industry. My comment relates to that context.

I also want to note, that EPP isn't the correct term here. For US, EPP would mean Manufacturer Employee Purchase Programs for New Products with a discount. Like, if you work for HP, you can purchase a product it manufactures at a discount price for your personal use.

The EU practice that I was mentioning is called IT Asset Disposition through employer to employee disposal program[0]. I don't believe big companies in the US get involved in employer to employee ITAD for lots of reasons. But in EU, it's a thing, much to my surprise.

[0]: https://www.mddp.pl/disposal-of-used-equipment-by-an-employe...

  • >Yep, I've used the € sign for a reason, to make sure people won't get confused.

    >The article goes into considerable detail about the EU tech industry. My comment relates to that context.

    You know what, that's entirely fair. And I'll also note that American companies can claim depreciation to offset corporate income taxes, so there's some parity there, it's just s different mechanism.