Ebay and VAT on "imports"?

AT181

Spoonie_Turtle said:

I don't think GSP was mentioned so I'd forgotten about it until your post about Amazon's system.  As the poster above said the book was "£price + VAT" I still assumed it was coming directly from the seller and not the GSP - but my assumption could easily be wrong.

It was direct from the seller. Excuse my ignorance but what is GSP?

Spoonie_Turtle

AT181 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

I don't think GSP was mentioned so I'd forgotten about it until your post about Amazon's system.  As the poster above said the book was "£price + VAT" I still assumed it was coming directly from the seller and not the GSP - but my assumption could easily be wrong.

It was direct from the seller. Excuse my ignorance but what is GSP?

Global Shipping Programme 🙂

AT181

Spoonie_Turtle said:

AT181 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

I don't think GSP was mentioned so I'd forgotten about it until your post about Amazon's system.  As the poster above said the book was "£price + VAT" I still assumed it was coming directly from the seller and not the GSP - but my assumption could easily be wrong.

It was direct from the seller. Excuse my ignorance but what is GSP?

Global Shipping Programme 🙂

Thank you

martindow

Does it matter if an item is posted internationally directly by the seller or using GSP?  I assumed that if the sale is through eBay they would be dealing with the import VAT. 

Spoonie_Turtle

martindow said:

Does it matter if an item is posted internationally directly by the seller or using GSP?  I assumed that if the sale is through eBay they would be dealing with the import VAT. 

Should make no difference to the buyer, eBay do deal with the import VAT for orders under £135.  [Logically I can't see why they would not deal with it at the point of sale (like all non-GSP purchases) rather than at the point of entry to the country, but I can't say for certain as I haven't bought anything using the GSP.]

martindow

Spoonie_Turtle said:

martindow said:

Does it matter if an item is posted internationally directly by the seller or using GSP?  I assumed that if the sale is through eBay they would be dealing with the import VAT. 

Should make no difference to the buyer, eBay do deal with the import VAT for orders under £135.  [Logically I can't see why they would not deal with it at the point of sale (like all non-GSP purchases) rather than at the point of entry to the country, but I can't say for certain as I haven't bought anything using the GSP.]

I wonder how this works?  eBay must supply something to put on the parcel to show that VAT has been paid.  An international parcel posted from abroad would normally get stopped and charged on arrival here.

Thrugelmir

martindow said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

martindow said:

Does it matter if an item is posted internationally directly by the seller or using GSP?  I assumed that if the sale is through eBay they would be dealing with the import VAT. 

Should make no difference to the buyer, eBay do deal with the import VAT for orders under £135.  [Logically I can't see why they would not deal with it at the point of sale (like all non-GSP purchases) rather than at the point of entry to the country, but I can't say for certain as I haven't bought anything using the GSP.]

I wonder how this works?  eBay must supply something to put on the parcel to show that VAT has been paid.  An international parcel posted from abroad would normally get stopped and charged on arrival here.

Ebay handle the international shipping element of the transaction. 

Spoonie_Turtle

martindow said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

martindow said:

Does it matter if an item is posted internationally directly by the seller or using GSP?  I assumed that if the sale is through eBay they would be dealing with the import VAT. 

Should make no difference to the buyer, eBay do deal with the import VAT for orders under £135.  [Logically I can't see why they would not deal with it at the point of sale (like all non-GSP purchases) rather than at the point of entry to the country, but I can't say for certain as I haven't bought anything using the GSP.]

I wonder how this works?  eBay must supply something to put on the parcel to show that VAT has been paid.  An international parcel posted from abroad would normally get stopped and charged on arrival here.

There's a code - I don't know exactly how it works but in the guidance for sellers it says about making sure the code is on the label.  Same for all the other online marketplaces and businesses that have registered with HMRC to collect the VAT at the point of sale.  The whole point was to prevent every single item having to be held in customs while they waited for the recipient to pay the charges.  Works out better for us too (for items over £15, anyway) as we don't have to pay a postal service / courier handling charge on top.

AT181

martindow said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

martindow said:

Does it matter if an item is posted internationally directly by the seller or using GSP?  I assumed that if the sale is through eBay they would be dealing with the import VAT. 

Should make no difference to the buyer, eBay do deal with the import VAT for orders under £135.  [Logically I can't see why they would not deal with it at the point of sale (like all non-GSP purchases) rather than at the point of entry to the country, but I can't say for certain as I haven't bought anything using the GSP.]

I wonder how this works?  eBay must supply something to put on the parcel to show that VAT has been paid.  An international parcel posted from abroad would normally get stopped and charged on arrival here.

I dug the packaging out of the bin and can't see an indication that VAT has been paid. All it says is what the contents are and the value but this wouldn't raise suspicions with HMRC as books are zero rated and maybe they know which platforms/retailers are collecting VAT on their behalf.

Buster_Danog

I also seem to get charged extra VAT when buying items worth £3 or £4 from ebay.com. However if the Chinese seller lists the same item on ebay uk I do not seem to get hit with the same fee. It seems like a crude system ebay have in place.