De registration of VAT

[edcarr40]

We are having a issue with de registration of vat on our eBay account. 
We have provided the information of deregistration from HMRC. This has been forwarded several times now. 
E bay are asking for a exemption letter from HMRC  which we believe does not exist. 
We keep going round and round. 

We are now currently restricted! 
Absolute nightmare. 
Can any one give some advice please. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@edcarr40 wrote:

E bay are asking for a exemption letter from HMRC  which we believe does not exist. 

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It does but only a business that applied for an exemption would receive one. You are not an exempt business; you are a business that has deregistered.

Good luck trying to explain that to eBay.

[simas-stuff]

Excellent answer. These are the sort of things that need to be brought up at the roadshows.  Ebay simply do not understand British tax & vat workings. 

[beechcroftdiving]

Following with interest. I have been having the same problem. HMRC asked me to send a letter detailing the problem and they would reply stating that I wasn't vat registered and didn't need to be. I did that and so far have not received a reply but meanwhile Ebay have frozen my account. They say that as last years turnover was over 10 grand I may have other businesses that take my turnover beyond the 90 grand threshhold and have to have confirmation from HMRC.   The 10 grand is just an Ebay arbritay figure which acording to the agent is set in stone and no one at ebay can apply comon sense to allow me chance to resolve the situation. 20 years ago i would have advised anyone running an online business to try ebay but the problems I have had over the last 4 or 5 years with one thing and another I would now tell anyone not to do it .Like you I am going round in circles trying to resolve this. Contact ebay and speak to someone who does not have English as a first language and only works from a script.

[everything_personalised]

I am in the same boat as you. I have a de-registration letter from HMRC clearly showing I am now de-registered from VAT, and eBay have been sitting on this document for 14 days now. I call eBay each time desperately trying to get through the the Ireland Call Centre, but all I get is Paris. Account restricted, and false promises that the 'back office' team will take action on it. It's been 14 Days, and 10 daily phone calls to eBay and still nothing has been done. I am now going to spam the help centre and request multiple calls backs until I get someone from Ireland

[4_bathrooms]

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@beechcroftdiving wrote:

They say that as last years turnover was over 10 grand I may have other businesses that take my turnover beyond the 90 grand threshhold and have to have confirmation from HMRC.   The 10 grand is just an Ebay arbritay figure which acording to the agent is set in stone and no one at ebay can apply comon sense to allow me chance to resolve the situation. 

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I've always wondered about this; i.e. could eBay be confusing a business name or trading name with another business? In your case it doesn't seem likely as you're a sole trader but I did find what looks like a defunct online shop of yours and other business websites where your name appears. I suspect this was the problem in your particular case.

[4_bathrooms]

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@everything_personalised wrote:

I am in the same boat as you. I have a de-registration letter from HMRC clearly showing I am now de-registered from VAT, and eBay have been sitting on this document for 14 days now.

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Did eBay originally request an "exemption certificate" like they did with the OP?

[beechcroftdiving]

I am stuck now because everytime I ring ebay I get someone who clearly does
not have English as a first language and get a different reason every
time. I am getting a bit fed up with some Asian woman telling me they
understand my frustration.

[myriad*seller]

Try calling at 8am, you will be put through to Dublin 

[myriad*seller]

It is worth reading all the other threads about VAT registration too, to see if anyone got a resolution, because as far as I am aware, I have never seen anyone able to fix this problem as eBay won't remove VAT registration unless you provide an "exemption certificate" that HMRC will not issue unless you are actually exempt from VAT rather than merely deregistered

So don't hold your breath for this to be fixed, ever. 

[myriad*seller]

The reason eBay are so reluctant to remove your VAT registration is that eBay themselves are liable to pay any VAT that you might owe 

So they won't let you deregister so they are not liable for any VAT penalties 

They won't let you prove you do not have to charge VAT as HMRC don't produce anything to prove this, so sellers end up on a never ending loop. Unable to provide the proof eBay demand, as HMRC do not issue this proof, sellers are never able to deregister from VAT on eBay, and so the circle continues....

[beechcroftdiving]

We went through all this over 4 years ago when I deregistered and then after a few years my site became live again and then a few months later it was frozen again.  That doesn't make sense

[beechcroftdiving]

When I retired I closed all my other businesses and used ebay to run stock down. Despite not paying hosting fees or domain name registration my old websites keep popping up again and refuse to go away

[everything_personalised]

I do however have a de-registration letter from HMRC but this still isn't good enough

Sent from Outlook for Android<>

[shock_waves_shop]

I de-registered for VAT in June 2023 and received a letter from HMRC confirming this.  Ebay asked me for a copy of my de-registraion letter, but would not accept my letter as it was over 6 months old.

I attempted to contact HMRC to get a copy.  After getting cut off when calling the HMRC De-Registration line (0300 322 7871), I called the HMRC General VAT Enquiries Line (0300 200 3700).  Waiting time was 20mins on each.

You will need to know your registration date to clear security (ideally) although I was able to request a COPY OF MY DE-REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE to be sent to me without knowing this.  The magic words are to request a letter VRT23.

[twofourdeltasurplus]

Just gone through the same issues, de registered 31st march, and got the warning email to re add VAT number etc etc, load sof calls got no where, and so my account was restricted over the bank holiday just gone.

Went on chat, and somehow got to speak to someone with an onuce of sense and sent me a link to upload proof I am no longer registered. Was told will take 48-72 hours for a decision, but I was back up and running in about 24ish hours

Below are the proof I sent ( edited details out )

[twofourdeltasurplus]

And this letter , as it will only let me attach one per post for some reason

Should add that between letters there was a gap of around 3 weeks from the change approved and de-registered letters arriving, and neither showed up in my VAT gateway account

[twofourdeltasurplus]

Sorry but I have just proved you wrong 🙂

[edcarr40]

Many Thanks for the information.
We have now sorted this situation.
But the information is saved and very helpful.
Sent from my iPhone. Michelle

[twofourdeltasurplus]

To say it is a massive ache in the round things is an understatement, it caused me no end of grief getting it sorted. I have no intention of going over the threshold again,just not worth it, unless in the distant future I decide to open a B&M shop

Glad its sorted for you as well