eBay

bojangled · ‎26-06-2024

This is as clear as mud to me. Been to the gov. advice website and various others.
How does a 1972 poster fit in to this process?

It's not an exempt category.

Advise buyers this item is for viewing only ?

My initial reaction, sadly, to to switch EU and NI off.
Jo

trafton.-47 · ‎15-07-2025

Yes those chemistry sets were rather good!

We're so dependent on what we're told by our AR - some interpret the rules
one way, some another. They can't all be right, but we pay our money and
have to trust them. I find it astonishing that anyone, completely
unqualified in anything, can set themselves up as an AR. Where liability
lies if they get it seriously wrong and cause major consequences for the
'manufacturer' I don't know. Money for old rope, I reckon - maybe you and I
are in the wrong business!

And... good luck. If Trump has his way the EU will be well and truly
stuffed.

truck-88 · ‎07-08-2025

With regard to EU sales, when E bay send an invoice to the buyer they remove the VAT from the UK sale so we as a seller receive 20% less than the sale price. As the item has been delivered to a UK e bay address we are not able to zero rate the sale. We therefore libel for VAT on the total of our sale which is now 20% less that the original sale price. We therefore have to account for VAT on the amount we receive so the net amount we end up with is now 40% less that the original selling price as we have no proof of export. We know it will be exported but HMRC do not, and we have no direct proof so if we do not pay the VAT on the next return date we may end up paying it at a later date. Now that may be OK for one small sale but on the other hand there could be a very large amount involved and HMRC may apply a penalty. It does not matter which country the buyer is in. What matters it the destination of the goods when sent and if that is in the UK they have not been exported in the eyes of HMRC

4_bathrooms · ‎07-08-2025

@truck-88 wrote:
With regard to EU sales, when E bay send an invoice to the buyer they remove the VAT from the UK sale so we as a seller receive 20% less than the sale price. As the item has been delivered to a UK e bay address we are not able to zero rate the sale.

You need to ask eBay's customer services for the requisite proof of export. As per the GSP FAQs:

"As Global Shipping Programme shipments always leave the UK, they are considered exports. Details of the export can be obtained on request from eBay customer service."

It's annoying that eBay don't supply it automatically to VAT registered business sellers but on the rare occasion when I have had a GSP sale the details have been provided when requested.

Give me ambiguity or give me something else.

truck-88 · ‎08-08-2025

Thank you for your comment. This is the second sale into the EU we have had in the last few weeks. You may be correct in what you say but I have requested proof of export from E bay and I have received an e mail saying it would be provided but it has not. Now if you look at the rules on the HMRC web site you will see as we have not exported the item we are not able to zero rate the sale. We know it will be exported by E bay but we may at any time have to provide proof of export and as we have not exported it we are unable to do this. If E bay were working as an shipping agent and sending sellers proof of export that may then be OK but we would need to see the kind if document they would provide and if it was acceptable to HMRC .The first of the two sales we have had E bay sent us an invoice stating they were the buyer so they were selling it on to the buyer in the EU. The second sale they did not do this. We have been exporting for many years and we do know and understand the rules. I have spoken to HMRC about this kind of sale but I did not bring E bay in to the conversation. I therefore spoke in general terms and was on the phone of over an hour. As a result of that call and after speaking to our accountants I have confirmed we are correct and E bay are wrong. As a result of this we have accepted the 20% reduction in price and accounted for the VAT on the reduced price so we have now allowed 40% per item for VAT. This is not a sustainable option so we will not now accept EU sales until the matter is sorted out. Now I also know the problem E bay have with this and as we only export a very small number of items to the EU we have decided to not to register for VAT in an EU country . This would be required if we were to export direct to the EU. I can see E bay are in between a rock and a hard place and there is as far as I can see no way through apart from what I have said above. There seems to be no answer to this at the moment and I an unable how any small firms can export to the EU unless the VAT rules change. The system set up by E bay has I thing been done outside the UK and the person or team doing it do not understand UK law.

4_bathrooms · ‎08-08-2025

@truck-88 wrote:
This is the second sale into the EU we have had in the last few weeks. You may be correct in what you say but I have requested proof of export from E bay and I have received an e mail saying it would be provided but it has not.

I think I have only ever had to request the POE for two orders (most of my items don't qualify for GSP) but both times it was promptly received. Did you request a callback or did you speak to an agent via live chat?

@truck-88 wrote:
Now if you look at the rules on the HMRC web site you will see as we have not exported the item we are not able to zero rate the sale.

You have exported the item; nowhere in VAT Notice 703 does it state the supplier (you) must arrange a direct export. What you do need to obtain is proof of the customer transaction and the export. This is section 6.5; note the section where it states "The rest of this paragraph has force of law":

Even without a copy of Pitney Bowes' consignment note you still have the buyer's invoice showing the description, value and quantity of the goods. Once the item leaves PB's hub you then have tracking to the buyer; this is likely enough commercial and supporting evidence on it's own. You are the supplier and eBay/Pitney Bowes are the freight forwarder. The buyer purchased the item from you, they purchased the shipping from eBay and you sent the item to eBay's freight forwarder (Pitney Bowes) in order for them to forward the item to the buyer. It is no more complicated than that.

@truck-88 wrote:
I have spoken to HMRC about this kind of sale but I did not bring E bay in to the conversation.

If you're going to omit material information you're going to be given incorrect advice. All HMRC needed to know was that an overseas buyer purchased something from you via eBay, you sent it to them via eBay's freight forwarding partner (Pitney Bowes) then asked what evidence you would need to obtain from eBay in order to zero-rate the export. The postcode you delivered the item to - WS13 8UR - is a single-customer postcode that is assigned to Pitney Bowes; a logistics and freight forwarding company.

If there was a wider issue with VAT registered businesses being unable to zero-rate items shipped through GSP I'm sure there would have already been many threads complaining about it over the 12 years or so since GSP was introduced. I don't recall seeing any and as mentioned, in my limited experiences I haven't had an issue. You may be better off starting your own thread that specifically concerns the issue.

Give me ambiguity or give me something else.

truck-88 · ‎09-08-2025

GSP and GPSR have no relevance we are talking about VAT on exports and not Tariffs.

When we export we are required to provide a commercial invoice and this invoice must contain certain information which includes but is not limited to our EORI number , our VAT number , the price of the goods , a description of the goods and a Tariff code for each item supplied.

We also need a document showing but not limited to,the item which has been exported , the shipper and the destination country. The Tariff code I referred to above is used to identify the goods to allow the country of destination to impose a Tariff charge if relevant, it is not quite the same as GSP and it has nothing to do with GPSR. with the way this is handled by E bay there is no mention of Pitney Bowes and we only have an address to send it to and remember the first sale of the two, E bay were the buyer we have received an invoice from them saying so. When we send a parcel with any carrier we are always required by the carrier to provide the above information. As you have shown above If the evidence is not as required the supplier (that is the seller) will be libel for the VAT in full and that is why we are paying the VAT on the reduced amount we receive from E bay

Just to give a simple illustration If for example a buyer from any county decides to buy and export himself we must still charge VAT in full. When he can show the item has been exported we can then refund the VAT.

but there is a time limit on this.

Now just to finalise we want to export through E bay but we want to do it right and follow all of the rules.

20thcenturyglass-shop · ‎09-08-2025

This thread is about GPSR Compliance, which has nothing to do with VAT. You guys should make a new thread if you want to discuss VAT. Everyone subscribed to this thread is currently getting irrelevant updates.