Why have I been charged 20% VAT on an item I have bought from Hong kong? I have never paid VAT befor

[davidrobertwarren]

I have been charged 20 % Vat on a model kit I have bought from Hong kong. I have bought dozens of figures over the years and never had to pay VAT before. The sellers says Ebay are putting the charge on. Why is this happening?

[rusticrye]

It's happening because VAT on imports of less than £135 (goods plus shipping) now has to be collected by Ebay and all other platforms at Point of Sale, rather than by the carrier when the goods enter the country.  It's a very good thing, as there will now be no carrier's admin fee to pay (for them collecting the tax on the government's behalf), and that was always a killer on low value items.

If you've never had to pay VAT on imports before, you've been lucky.  Either that, or  your purchases (item and shipping) were always under £15, which was the UK import threshold up until the 1st January 2021.  There is now no import threshold of any kind - VAT is now payable on the full amount.

@davidrobertwarren