Ebay and VAT on "imports"?

Thrugelmir

Buster_Danog said:

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.

That's because the VAT is accounted for in the UK selling price of the item. The lister of the item deals with all the importation tax issues. When you buy through Ebay.com you are personally importing the item therefore pick up the charges when they arrive in the UK. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Thrugelmir said:

Buster_Danog said:

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.

That's because the VAT is accounted for in the UK selling price of the item. The lister of the item deals with all the importation tax issues. When you buy through Ebay.com you are personally importing the item therefore pick up the charges when they arrive in the UK. 

Not quite.  The sellers in this scenario are likely VAT registered in the UK, so yes the VAT is in the selling price on eBay.co.uk in these instances.  From eBay.com however, eBay themselves are dealing with the VAT for you (I've just done a test in the basket) because sellers through the US marketplace would be complying with US rules and registered to pay any applicable US sales tax. 

So if the same seller is registered for US taxes and UK VAT, they would pay the US taxes on sales through the US site (no matter where the buyer is) and the UK VAT on sales through the UK site (no matter where the buyer is). 

However being an online marketplace, eBay are obliged to meet any international rules about VAT or other sales taxes elsewhere based on where the buyer is, which of course they rightly charge the buyer, not the seller.

ballisticbrian

Has anyone got any thoughts on UK non VAT registered businesses customers being charged VAT on eBay.co.uk shipping to the EU where before the bsuiness was not liable to charge VAT?