VAT?

[oztique70]

I live in the U.K. I purchase from eBay UK. I have my items posted to my U.K. address. It seems I am being charged VAT on my purchases - is this correct? Many thanks. 

[tommystrezures]

There is a known VAT glitch that occasionally rears its ugly head.

However if you are buying from sellers overseas, then yes you would be liable to 20% vat. Goto the about me section on the seller, where is their account registered? If outside the UK then that is why you are being charged VAT

[sml192]

There is also VAT included in the Buyer Protection Fee and eBay's Simple Delivery when purchasing from Private Sellers, so that may be what you are seeing.

[oztique70]

Many thanks for responses. All my purchases are from sellers registered in the U.K.

Have included a photo of a purchase and it’s payment info.

[the_book_seekers]

Have you clicked on the 'Learn More' link which should tell you more about why you are seeing a VAT element?

[61stephenuk]

It's showing the VAT portion of the Buyer Protection Fee and the postage as said by sml192

[sml192]

---

@oztique70 wrote:

Many thanks for responses. All my purchases are from sellers registered in the U.K.

Have included a photo of a purchase and it’s payment info.

---

From that screenshot it is, as I stated previously, VAT on the Buyer Protection Fee and the postage.  However, those figures don't seem right to me. 

The postage charge is £2.46 + 20% VAT (£0.49) = £2.94 which is correct.  

They then appear to have charged £0.77 + 20% VAT (£0.15) for the Buyer Protection.  

£0.49 + £0.15 gives you the £0.64 total VAT charge.

The problem is if the item price is £5.76 including £0.77 for the Buyer Protection, as shown on the left side of  the screenshot, then that would make the item price £4.99 excluding the Buyer Protection.  By my calculation the Buyer Protection Fee on £4.99 should only be £0.45 including VAT (7% + 10p) not £0.77 + VAT, so something doesn't add up here.  Almost looks as though they have charged the Buyer Protection Fee twice!

[oztique70]

Update from eBay rep (live chat) -  eBay are charging VAT on domestic purchases - even from sellers registered in the U.K.

[jonatjonatjonat]

Not on the actual product if they are a private seller. It should only be on the BPF and the Postage.

One question fro mthe screenshot about - WHEN was that purchase?

[oztique70]

VAT has been charged on my last 10 purchases - all from sellers registered and living within the U.K. Photo (part) of my recent purchase.

[sml192]

The VAT is being charged on the BPF and the postage not the cost of the item itself. This is perfectly correct as the BPF and postage (in the case of Simple Delivery) are both fees charged by eBay and as they are a business registered for UK VAT they are required to collect and remit VAT on any fees they charge.

[jonatjonatjonat]

That one makes sense. But you are correct - the item at £5.76 - I cannot work out where the BPF of 77p is coming from.

Though ebay have changed the modelling of how the BPF is calculated - I thought the only previous model was 75p + 4%. So it wouldn't add up under that model either.

[oztique70]

The last item purchased (as per photo of details) was only a few days ago and infact, I purchased it for £5.00 not £4.93 as displayed by eBay’s fees. I would also like to know why the last 10 items purchased had vat charges and not the previous 50 items or so. Something is not adding up and the live chat didn’t really help.

[jonatjonatjonat]

They will have only been charging VAT at the point BPF and Simple Delivery came in.

As you pay these elements direct to eBay not the seller, VAT must be shown.

[sml192]

£4.93 is the item price including the BPF but excluding the VAT element of the BPF (7p).  Admittedly, the way it is shown is rather confusing.  The breakdown of what you actually paid is as folkows:

Item price (the amount the seller receives) = £4.58;

BPF = £0.35 + £0.07 VAT = £0.42;

Postage = £2.45 + £0.49 VAT = £2.94.

Total = £7.94.

The BPF was introduced in February of last year and only applies to purchases from Private Sellers not Business Sellers.  

EBay's Simple Delivery was introduced properly in April of last year although eBay began trialling it in 2024 on selected items (clothing initially).  Again it only applies to Private Sellers not Business Sellers and Private Sellers can still use their own custom postage in certain circumstances (there would be no VAT charged in those instances). 

Hopefully that makes things a bit clearer.

[jonatjonatjonat]

That does now seem to make sense - the vat exc on the left was throwing me!