Financial

VAT FAQ

Since the VAT registration of PostgreSQL Europe we have received a lot of questions about how this works for us (as a French non-profit the rules appear to be slightly different than for many regular companies, and companies in other countries). This page attempts to summarize some of the more frequent questions, along with the responses we have received from our accounting firm and from the French tax authorities.

Please note that we issue our invoices and process VAT directly per the instructions we have receivied from the authorities, and as such we cannot actually change how it's processed, but we will do our best to explain the situation.

Why have you registered for VAT?

This is not something that is within our control. Basically the authorities requires VAT registration once you have a certain amount of money in your bank account, and due to the expanded size of our events, we have reached this point.

How does this affect me as a private attendee?

As long as you are paying as a private person, and not a VAT registered business, there is no difference. We have adapted our prices so that the new prices including VAT are the same as our previous non-VAT prices.

We are a VAT registered European company, how do we get our VAT number on the attendee invoice?

Please make sure you include the VAT number as part of the invoice address. Anything you write in the invoice address field will be copied directly to the invoice. If you did not do this, you can cancel your own invoice and re-issue it as long as it has not been paid.

We added our VAT numbers, but you are still charging VAT on our attendee invoice?

This is correct. We have been instructed by the authorities that we should charge VAT on all the attendee invoices, regardless of whether they include a VAT number or not. As a VAT registered business, you should be able to claim this VAT back separately with the tax authorities. We realize this does not match the advice given to many of our attendees by others, but we have double checked this multiple times with the authorities and they have been very clear that this is how we have to do it.

We do not issue reverse charge VAT invoices for attendees.

How is VAT charged on sponsorship invoices?

If your organization has a valid European VAT number, enter it on the sponsorship signup form. If this is done, and it is not a French VAT number, we will issue a reverse charge invoice. If you do not have a VAT number or if you are located in France or outside the European Union, sponsorship invoices will include 20% VAT.

Why are you charging X% VAT on an attendee invoice?

Attendee invoices are charged the VAT rate of the country that the event is held in.

Why are you charging 20% VAT on sponsorship invoice?

Sponsorship invoices are charged 20% French VAT, regardless of where the event is held.

This is also per the explicit instructions from our accountants and the tax authorities, even if it can in some ways seem strange.

We have already paid our invoice, can you please change some details?

Once an invoice has been paid, there is nothing we can change on it. This includes adding or removing a VAT number as well as modifying an address or adding/removing a company name. Invoice contents can only be changed before the invoice has been paid, by canceling it and issuing a new one with the correct details.