Ebay International Buyer - VAT and IOSS number

jpsartre

I've sold something to a buyer in Austria. He has paid VAT to Ebay on the item and I have been provided with an IOSS number from Ebay. Ebay tells me: 'Please ensure that you share Ebay's IOSS number electronically with your courier'. However, when I go to purchase a postage label with Royal Mail, the box to enter the IOSS number is greyed out and won't let me enter anything. I've picked Ebay as the Marketplace seller from the dropdown menu. Anybody knows what I'm supposed to do? I don't want the buyer to get hit with a VAT charge when he has already paid.

Edit follow-up: Ok, so I've been able to work out that Royal Mail prepopulates the IOSS box with the Ebay IOSS number. However, I don't see anywhere on the customs declaration or postage label generated that this is an Ebay purchase and that VAT has been paid. The IOSS is not anywhere either. Is this normal? 

QrizB

Looking down the other end of the pipe, my son is in the Republic of Ireland and has occasionally bought things from eBay UK sellers. He has quite often been charged VAT a second time by the Irish postal service, and has had to claim it back from eBay.