Questions about VAT on buying items from USA

Altior

You've got that wrong.  As you are a consumer you should be paying VAT if the product is liable for it.

Try reading what I posted again, and taking it in.

Altior

Considerations When Selling Services In The UK

Any VAT on services sold to the UK from the US are typically determined by the place of supply rules. The general place of supply rules for services are as follows.

o For B2B sales, the place of supply is the country where the customer belongs.

o For B2C sales, the place of supply is the country where the supplier belongs.

It should be noted that US businesses that do not have a presence in the UK, are unlikely to need to register for UK VAT when the place of supply of their services is in the UK. However, where the US business has some sort of presence in the UK, for example a server or an office, care is needed to determine whether this creates a fixed establishment in the UK, as this will typically require the US company to register for VAT in the UK and to charge UK VAT on its sales.

Spoonie_Turtle

^ Fair enough, that is very clear.  What's the source for that, please (so I know for future reference)?

Btw you still haven't answered the question whether it's purely digital, or posted on a disc.

LouiseAH

Sorry for not replying sooner to the above posts. I have had covid and haven't been feeling too great. In my original post I shouldn't have called the 20% charge VAT. I just assumed it was VAT because the ebay seller told me that I would have to pay an additional 20% charge if I was from the UK. So if the product is completely digital (its all downloaded and nothing is sent to my home address in the UK) should I be paying this 20% fee. I am still unsure about this.

martindow

Hope you're feeling better.  HMRC has a section regarding digital products. 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-vat-rules-if-you-supply-digital-services-to-private-consumers

It is mainly aimed at UK businesses selling, but maybe there is some information that would cover your situation.