VAT charged at 17.5% on recent purchase

bodderz

Hi all,

I recently bought some perfume online from a company in the UK. The total price quoted (including delivery) was £29.99 (no tax was shown).

However, when the invoice came through, VAT was charged at 17.5%, not 15%.

Am I entitled to a part refund because the VAT is at 17.5%? Or, as I was happy to pay the £29.99 without first seeing the tax breakdown, is it neither here nor there how they charge the cost of goods and tax on the invoice?

Thanks for your advice.

P.S. It's only 56p difference which is peanuts but I'm interested to know where I stand.

Ste_C

They maybe haven't updated their invoice system?

Most retail companies like in this instance quote a gross price and work backwards - hence most things which were £29.99 before the (incredibly pointless) vat cut are still £29.99 now so the price to you has probably never changed.

Not sure if you could ask for it back or not really. The vat saving doesn't have to be passed on to the customer as most companies who price up items at £9.99 £14.99 £49.99 have shown, but in this case they may be passing on too much to HMRC.

Mary_Hartnell

What are the rules these days for extracting the actual VAT on the invoice, so the buyer can see the actual tax charged?

If it was a credit sale, I would correct the invoice and pay the correct amount, there is no excuse for still sending out rubbish invoices.