why was i charged 20% tax on a item bought in uk sold by uk seller

[scruffydogspiders]

i bought an item 314730771347 this was sold by a uk buyer and bought by a uk buyer.so why was i charged VAT at 20%

[papso22]

Were you actually charged the tax at checkout,  I.e you paid it?

[61stephenuk]

Your seller is registered in China,when items or seller are located outside UK VAT is charged at checkout for orders under £135 and when arriving in Uk for goods over £135.

[red_magpie]

sold by a uk buyer and bought by a uk buyer

You didn't read your seller's business information:

shen zhen ka bin jia dian zi shang wu you xian gong si

Lina Dai

NewVilDalangStLonghuaNewDRm307Bldh133Shi

518131 Shenzhen

China

 

Just because the item is located in the UK it doesn't mean that the seller is. Always check the seller's location as well. Another reason this is important is that if the seller is based in China you're unlikely to have any UK statutory consumer rights, and any claimed warranty may be meaningless.

[fargvs]

The Seller is registered in China ... 

but ... 

Even with an item showing as being located in the UK,  if either the buyer or seller uses an account that is or has been Registered outside the UK  site at any time, it will automatically trigger an additional UK 20% VAT  Import fee payable to HMRC/UK Government >

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/paying-items/paying-tax-ebay-purchases?id=4771&st=2&pos=2&query=P...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/resolving-issues-sellers/report-issue-seller?id=4022&st=3&pos=1&q...

[scruffydogspiders]

paying tax on goods drom china is wrong.why are you charging extra.there was never vat before.only since the eu started waging econic warfare on china.this hinders sales from china.where we get punished by paying extra to pay for something the west charges double to treble for,yet is made in the same country.stop calling it VAT and call it what it is a THIEVES TAX

[papso22]

It's complicated but put simply, a few years ago HMRC made online marketplaces, including eBay, the deemed seller of goods where the seller is overseas but uses a distribution warehouse in the UK.

As ebay is VAT registered, being the deemed seller means VAT is chargeable by ebay.