ebay and vat

northernstar007

hi there can anyone tell me if a retailer is allowed to at vat on a item on ebay
ive placed a bid on ebay normal way, then in the email as you get from ebay its saying there is vat to be added 
i always though the price on ebay is the price you pay

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

If the seller is outside the UK then yes eBay will add VAT to the final price your bid wins at.

On desktop it should be fairly clear they do this, no sure on mobile or the app. 

You should be able to retract your bid (bids can’t be retracted if there’s less than 12 hours on the auction and it’s been more than an hour since the bid) if you aren’t happy with the extra 20%  

northernstar007

its a uk seller and nothing on the ebay page about vat to be added 
and yes using the desktop version

Flight3287462

Does it say VAT added or included?  I would let it run then refuse to pay if they do add VAT or email them saying you won't be paying ant added VAT.

northernstar007

at the bottom of page next to seller address with vat no is "I provide invoices with VAT separately displayed"

very sneeky

themoomins

The VAT should be in the selling price on ebay unless the item is coming from the EU as there is now 'Import VAT'. This is totally different from sales VAT.

TELLIT01

There is a difference between showing vat separately on a receipt/invoice, and adding VAT to the advertised price.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

northernstar007 said:

its a uk seller and nothing on the ebay page about vat to be added 
and yes using the desktop version

OP check the item location and the sellers feedback profile for where their account is registered.

If the item is in the UK but the seller is in say China then eBay have to collect VAT for this situation as well.

If the seller is in the UK but the item isn’t I think they have to collect VAT for this as well.

Your seller is not allowed add VAT to the final price (they can try to add it on the invoice but you can refuse to pay). There might be a few categories that are exempt from this rule such as businesses for sales but I’m not sure. 

If eBay themselves are adding the VAT it will very likely be the seller location or item location causing this.

noitsnotme

northernstar007 said:

at the bottom of page next to seller address with vat no is "I provide invoices with VAT separately displayed"

very sneeky

That doesn’t mean VAT will added.  That means the final price includes VAT and they will issue an invoice showing that.  

Although in my experience most businesses on eBay don’t issue a VAT invoice automatically and have to be chased multiple times for it!

user1977

northernstar007 said:

at the bottom of page next to seller address with vat no is "I provide invoices with VAT separately displayed"

very sneeky

No, that's standard. Are you sure they're actually adding VAT on top of the bid price?

soolin

As above, where are you seeing the actual figure of VAT being added to the end price , are you sure you are not just misunderstanding the bit about the VAT invoice?