eBay - import fees?

se2020

I am in the UK,
I originally purchased 3 items from a seller in Holland.
They sent me a combined invoice with one postage charge for the first 3 items,
I then purchased a 4th item.
I went through checkout and paid for all 4 items as one transaction. 
Seller then sent a part refund for the postage amount on the 4th item, reason "postage discount"

However, my PayPal account shows 2 payments have been taken, one for the first 3 items and one for the 4th item.
(Some of the 4th item has been partially refunded)

So the ebay purchase shows as follows:
Clicking on any of the first 3 items:

3 Items = €180
Postage = €30

Clicking on the 4th item
1 Item = €145
Postage = €25
VAT = €34
Refund = €31

I am not sure why I only got charged vat on the 4th item?
Is that because the first 3 items were under €100 each (€99, €66 & €15)
Or because the 4th item was over €100?

All items have been sent using the same tracking number so I presume they are all coming in one parcel/box

This is not a gsp sale, seller has used ups to send direct. 

The issue,
I now have 2 seperate text messages with different payment links from ups telling me there is import charges of £75 to pay, (£63 "government charges" + handle fee)

Each of these links takes me to a separate page with the same amount showing, the invoice & tracking numbers are the same on each page.

Does £75 in duty sound about right for the 3 items that I do not seem to have already paid VAT on?

Items are safety wear so I am not sure if I should even be charged vat?

DullGreyGuy

So the gift from Brexit was that if a parcel is under £135 then the vendor must charge you the UK VAT up front whereas if the parcel is over £135 then VAT/Duty will be charged on importation. There are special rules for items bought via market places in that the market place deals with the VAT on behalf of the vendor. 

First order was €210 so over the threshold and expected to be charged on delivery whereas the second is borderline and presumably eBays FX calculator said it was just inside £135 hence added VAT. 

What's now complicated the matter is that the vendor has decided to combine the two orders into one delivery and hence given a delivery refund. The VAT amount doesn't go to the Vendor but is kept by eBay and have no idea on what the correct path is for them to say the orders have been combined so the VAT should be refunded. 

The fees look about right based on a combined parcel.

jon81uk

DullGreyGuy said:

So the gift from Brexit was that if a parcel is under £135 then the vendor must charge you the UK VAT up front whereas if the parcel is over £135 then VAT/Duty will be charged on importation. There are special rules for items bought via market places in that the market place deals with the VAT on behalf of the vendor. 

not actually a Brexit thing, this was coming to the EU and UK anyway, the Brexit effect was that we now need to pay VAT on import from Europe. But UK & EU wanted to make marketplaces pay the VAT anyway to limit the rise of Aliexpress and cheap chinese imports which avoid taxes.

I think you are correct though and it is likely the parcel will get stopped by HMRC and the courier will collect the taxes and duties.

se2020

Having problems with this...
I had a text from ups last Friday telling me the consignment was due for delivery that day,
My rough calculations showed they were charging me vat/duty on the total value of the shipment (including the one item that I had already paid VAT on via ebay)

I decided for ease just to pay the full amount of import charges. 
No delivery on Friday, tracking changed to "delayed" on Saturday,  on Sunday had the message "export gateway hold"
Yesterday "returning to sender" and this morning, delivered-back to the sender.

If the package is re-sent how do I avoid paying import charges twice?

Or how do I get the first lot of charges refunded?

Thanks!