Why are members in the Euro Zone charged in Euros, while members elsewhere are charged in dollars?
Although ProZ.com is based in the US, only 25% of paying members live there. Twice as many live in the EU. As a result, 30% of ProZ.com expenses are euro-based. (Euro expenses include payroll, VAT tax, CAT tools, event sponsorships, etc.) Adding to this fact, in June of 2003, ProZ.com became obligated by EU directive to remit VAT tax (in euros.) In light of the high percentage of euro expenses, and associated currency risk, it became necessary in June to adopt a pricing policy that involves both euros and dollars. Without this policy, ProZ.com would have to absorb currency fluctuations of 25% of more and still pay VAT taxes of up to 25% on membership sales. The company is not in a position to do that. It was determined that the fairest policy would be to charge members fixed rates in their own currencies. So rather than paying a different amount each year due to currency fluctuations, members both in the Euro Zone and the US will pay a fixed amount, regardless of currency fluctuations.
