I bought an item from a private EU seller and ebay charged VAT can/how do I claim it back?

[ojobson]

I bought an item for £57 plus £15 shipping from EU from a private seller selling some second hand electronics.

Ebay charged UK VAT on my purchase (because otherwise it will get caught up at customs, I think?)

So.. can I claim the VAT back? If so, how do I do that?

[tobiasd4 · Accepted solution]

Doesn't make any difference if item is old/new or business/privates seller, 20% VAT now has to be collected for all imported items.

[ojobson · Accepted solution]

B*lls. Thanks for replying.

[Anonymous]

Thats nit exactly true.
Vat itswlf is different for a new and second hand item.
Read about the Margin scheme. Vat for a second hand sale ia applied only on the profit, not on the sold item value!!!
And its huge difference to apply from lets say total price 100gbp or from profit 10gbp as an example. Vat would be 20 vs 2 pounds. And to be more exact 1.67. Since vat rate in a margin scheme is 16.67 not 20%.

[ojobson]

The Margin scheme is only for goods that are in the UK at the time of sale and sold to people in the UK.
All imports of goods that are outside of the UK and sold by a seller outside of the UK and purchased for import (and are less than £135) are subject to VAT. MOre info: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-and-overseas-goods-sold-directly-to-customers-in-the-uk