Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Germany new draft law to tackle sales tax fraud in e-commerce business


The German government on Yesterday approved a draft law to crack down on value added tax fraud in online sales by tightening the rules for e-commerce companies like eBay  & Amazon.
The Govt estimates that it loses up to 500 million euros ($580 million) a year in unpaid sales taxes on goods purchased online from companies which are outside Germany.

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said in a statement:
“We are ending the illegal practice of some vendors on online marketplaces who evade the sales tax and unfairly give themselves competitive advantages”.

The government view is although German customers pay the price for their online purchases includes VAT, many foreign-based vendors never pass the taxes on to the German state.

The proposed legislation, which still needs to go through parliament, would oblige online shopping platforms to track sales by third-party companies on their website, and pass the relevant information on to the finance ministry so those firms can be taxed.

If that fails, the online platforms themselves could be liable to pay the necessary sales taxes.
The proposed German legislation would take effect in 2019, two years before a similar scheme for the entire European Union comes into force.

A spokesman for eBay told DPA news agency that the company has “no tolerance for vendors who fail to comply with their legal obligations on the eBay marketplace”.

But he also criticized Germany for rushing in measures ahead of the EU-wide legislation.

He said
“Any unilateral actions that lead to legal fragmentation pose a huge burden for global companies”.

Monday, July 23, 2018

Most killer Website Design & Development Trends for 2018



Now a days website design and development trends have experienced an apparent change as one of the most dynamic industries in web technologies. It is 2018, a year for exploration of the web technologies in a dynamic perspective. Web technology is supreme and with the ever-rising technical
challenges as more products get into the market, the only choice of web designers is be innovative and put up with the changing trends. They have to ensure that their designs fit any internet device be it a desktop or a smartphone. Here is a list of Most killer Website Design Trends that will shape the web industry in 2018.


  • Mobile-first web designs
  • Bigger and bold typography is batter
  • Use of gradients always batter the simple color
  • Selection of eye catching colors is always a key factor
  • Dynamic grid-based structured design looks batter 
  • Animations are superior as compared to a thousand words


Selection of particle backgrounds , Animations & illustrations, , selection of theme colors, the choice to use dynamic grid layouts, mobile-first designs, typography and gradient choice are shaping web design trends in 2018. It is a year for website design and development companies to go beyond the limits and give the world their best.

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Do your Website Needs an SEO Agency

Search Engine Optimization can be an addition when developing or redesigning a new website. Look at it this way: Having a solid basis is key to building a house, and having a solid SEO friendly website design is a similar equivalence… so, why is SEO often a lower priority?

It may be there are so much going on in the affordable website design & development process that for SEO thought, “We’ll get to it later.” Or, it may be that your website development company just doesn’t specialize in SEO, even if they say they do. With the continuous evolvement of the search and digital landscape, you need an agency that’s knee deep in SEO best practices to ensure your website launch is successful.

Here we have question, Is your new website SEO friendly?

One of the first deliverables we recommend to new clients is an Onpage SEO Audit. We start with an audit because even the most beautiful website or well-optimized content isn’t going to be found by Google if your overall website isn’t SEO friendly. If search engine optimization is considered during the initial website development phase, you can avoid SEO issues down the road.

China e-commerce spending expected to reach $100bn

An emerging middle class in China with a high tendency to shop for foreignbrands is helping to drive up outlay on goods bought outside of China, according to eMarketer’s cross-border e-commerce spending forecast.

The guess is in line with Singles Day in China, the main e-commerce shopping event hold by Alibaba that happened last Satuaday, as analysts see the festival adding more and more overseas businesses.

The analysis discloses that the total cross-border ecommerce sales in China are expected to reach
US$100.17 billion by the end of 2017, with the average spend per cross-border digital buyer at US$882.

Average spend per buyer has increased since previous forecast due to the growing awareness of overseas brands in China, as well as better logistics and the perception that foreign goods are of better quality.

Also contributing to the growth is the popularity of Tmall Global, JD Worldwide and Kaola, sites that have made it easier for shoppers to access a wide variety of overseas products on a platform they are familiar with.

“The factors fueling the trend toward greater cross-border shopping are nothing new, as the average Chinese consumer is now more tech savvy, more exposed to foreign brands through overseas travel and the internet and, crucially, more willing to spend,” said Shelleen Shum, senior forecasting analyst.
More than a fifth (23%) of digital buyers in China will make at least one cross-border purchase via the internet, and growth in such purchases will start to slow over the forecast period as more residents choose local brands for some categories such as fashion. Realizing the demand for better-quality goods, local brands are starting to adapt to this change.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Travel clubs sued for taking airline logos by U.S. airlines

“I wasn’t really sure it was for real,” says Michelle Morton, a homemaker from Raleigh, N.C., who recently received such a mailing and attended a presentation with her husband, Bill. The pitch was for a $6,000-a-year vacation club, which offered deep discounts on condos and hotels. The Mortons declined to join.
It starts with a postcard saying that you’ve won an airline ticket. To collect your prize, you have to attend a brief presentation. And that’s how they getcha.
As for their ticket, that turned out to be a $1,398 credit for USA Airlines, which doesn’t exist. Morton is glad that she said no, because something about the offer didn’t look quite right.

At least two airlines agree that there’s something suspicious about these kinds of clubs. Downright fraudulent, actually.

In separate lawsuits, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines allege that a network of vacation clubs have misappropriated their names or logos to sell memberships, either coming deceptively close to the names of real airlines, as “USA Airlines” does, or misusing their names outright.

The complaints offer a glimpse into what insiders say is a business that generates billions of dollars in annual revenue and seems to yield almost as many complaints. The lawsuits paint a picture of a well-organized, resourceful and seductive industry that few people have understood, until now.



One lawsuit, filed by American Airlines in a Texas district court, claims that a network of travel clubs used the airline’s intellectual property on mass-mailed postcards and letters to intentionally confuse consumers into believing that American was sponsoring or had endorsed a giveaway promotion for two round-trip tickets.

“These promotions are a naked attempt to deceptively lure people into sale presentations for useless travel-club memberships by playing off of American’s famous and valuable trademarks,” the lawsuit alleges. American has received default judgments or reached settlements with all but two of the defendants, according to the airline.

Another suit, filed by Delta Air Lines in a Georgia district court, makes similar charges. Describing a “textbook case” of intentional trademark infringement by a “well-organized ring of intellectual property pirates,” the airline accuses a group of travel clubs of illegally misappropriating Delta’s protected name and logos.

The purpose of their “fraudulent impersonation” of Delta “is to further their enterprise of selling travel club memberships pursuant to which members are promised (but do not receive) steep discounts in future travel expenses and other gifts and awards,” according to the suit.

Neither airline would comment on the lawsuits, citing policies of not discussing pending litigation. Efforts to reach the defendants were largely unsuccessful, but not entirely.

Curtis Lemley, one of the defendants in the Delta suit, is alleged to own three companies involved in what the airline terms “illegal” activities: Nationwide Travel Promotions, King Travel Promotions and American Travel Suppliers. These entities, the suit claims, had a hand in sending postcards to consumers.

“My companies and I had a very limited role in one promotion involving use of the Delta mark,” he said via email. “We received a notice from Delta that contended that we were using its trademark without authorization, which was news to me, and we immediately informed our printer of the problem and told them that we did not want to use any trademarks that were not authorized to use.”

The Wunder family name comes up repeatedly in both complaints. American’s lawsuit names Andrew and Bethany Wunder and their companies, while the Delta case names Andrew’s brother, John Wunder.

John Wunder, reached in his office in Scottsdale, Ariz., labeled the airline lawsuits a “complete miscarriage of justice.” Delta accuses his company, Bridgewater Marketing, doing business as Tier 3 Productions, of preparing and sending letters “which were hand-signed on behalf of fictitious Delta vice presidents, hand-addressed, and then mailed from Phoenix.” It also operated a call center that fielded the calls from responding victims who believed that they were calling Delta to claim their awarded airfares, the suit claims.

Wunder denies the charges, saying that employees of a company he manages but does not directly control sent a mailing that was “similar” to the Delta logo. When he discovered it, he claims, he terminated the staff.

Delta’s approach, he asserts, has been unreasonable. He says that it has run the lawsuit like a dragnet, suing anyone remotely associated with a travel club. “Delta has made claims against every single marketing entity, individual and employee that they could Google,” he says. “In some cases they have sued mail clerks and accountants for companies in the travel club marketing business.”

This is probably an appropriate place to acknowledge my role in the story. Delta asked me to participate in its lawsuit as an expert witness because I’ve written books about travel-related scams. Even though I’m deeply troubled by the rise of these pricey travel clubs, I politely declined, opting instead to write about the legal proceedings. Wunder said the Delta suit is still in the discovery phase and is likely to be settled.

What should travelers make of the courtroom drama? There’s truth on both sides of this issue but only one troubling reality. Airlines care about fraudulent travel clubs, but only in the sense that they damage their “famous and valuable trademarks” and their reputations. Travel clubs know the value of an American Airlines or Delta Air Lines imprimatur and are apparently not shy about coming close to the line, if not crossing it, when promoting their memberships.

The reality is that these types of travel clubs are sophisticated and highly profitable to their owners, but risky, if not foolish, investments for most people. They offer impossible discounts in exchange for exorbitant upfront membership fees. Whether they lure you in with an offer of a free “Delta Airways” ticket or they use an actual Delta logo, the end result is the same, say people who have fallen for it: You’ll wish you’d never joined the club.

National unity deal in Afghanistan has been signed in Kabul

The signing comes after months of wrangling following presidential elections in April and June.
A deal to form a government of national unity in Afghanistan has been signed at a ceremony in Kabul.
Under the deal, Ashraf Ghani becomes president while runner-up Abdullah Abdullah nominates a CEO with powers similar to those of prime minister.
Later, the election commission declared Mr Ghani as winner of the bitterly fought poll.
"The Independent Election Commission declares Ashraf Ghani as the president, and thus announces the end of election process," commission chief Ahmad Yousaf Nuristani said without declaring the number of votes for each candidate or the turnout figures.

Both sides had accused the other of fraud following the election and the months of uncertainty have damaged the economy and worsened insecurity.

Mr Ghani and Mr Abdullah signed the agreement at a televised ceremony inside the presidential palace in the capital, Kabul. They then stood and embraced each other.

Outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai congratulated the two men, saying that the agreement was "for the progress and development of this country".

"On behalf of the Afghan nation, I am congratulating them on this understanding and agreement," he said in his speech.

The US hailed the deal as an "important opportunity for unity".

"We support this agreement and stand ready to work with the next administration to ensure its success," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

The power-sharing deal was finally reached after a comprehensive audit of all eight million votes, brokered by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

BBC Afghanistan correspondent David Loyn, who has seen a copy of the agreement, says it averts potential violence by supporters of Mr Abdullah.

The agreement says the new CEO will be answerable to Mr Ghani, although he has lost a battle to be sworn in after the announcement of the election result, our correspondent says.

The pledge of further devolution to Scotland will be fulfilled, Miliband said.

The pledge of further devolution to Scotland will be fulfilled "no ifs, no buts" amid a row over additional powers for England, Ed Miliband has said…

He further adds, he and other leaders made a "clear" pledge of new powers during the referendum and they must "honour" it.

The Labour leader said he was "open" to the idea of a new role for English MPs but not building a new English Parliament, as favored by many Tories.

No 10 has made it clear that it will not renege on its Scottish commitments.

But Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has said voters were "tricked" by the pledge to publish, in draft form, new powers for the Scottish Parliament on tax and welfare before the 2015 general election.

He claims the timetable for delivering more powers in the event of a No vote - promised by the leaders of the three main Westminster parties in a joint declaration - is slipping because Mr Cameron cannot guarantee his back benchers, who want more power for English MPs, will vote for it.