VAT and eBay

[loudandclearhifi]

Hello everyone

Happy New Year and hope you are safe and well.

I was wondering if someone could give me any insight into this 'issue' I (and any other V.A.T. registered business) will have had for years; the recent BREXIT scenario has promted me to ask.

As a VAT registered business in the U.K. which sells worldwide, for years non-EU buyers have had to pay U.K. V.A.T. when they shouldn't have. eBay having no way of allowing U.K. business sellers to list exclusive of V.A.T. for non-EU buyers, or having no way of adjusting the invoice accordingly, makes the U.K. seller less competetive worldwide. Now that the U.K. has left the EU, the same is going to apply for eBay sellers selling into the EU; essentially, all non-U.K. buyers will have to pay UK V.A.T. and any V.A.T. where they live too! Does anyone have any suggestions, please?

eBay? Is there any plan to do anything about this? It's not just a BREXIT thing; my buyers in the U.S.A. (for example) have been paying 20% more than they should've for years due to this. If it is not possible, why not?

A solution I can think of is to allow sellers selling on ebay.co.uk to list exclusive of VAT; then. when someone buys, the VAT is added on by eBay's system (the amount dependent upon the shipping address). eBay then collects the VAT and pays it to the relevant tax office. 

Thanks for reading and take care.

Neil

[tobiasd4]

"VAT: 20% (included in the listed price). The actual VAT requirements and rates may vary depending on the final sale. Learn more"

This is what your & others listing shows, problem is if you click learn more, doesn't tell you if you pay extra or not,

as I understand guess, UK buyers will only pay price on your listing as you said VAT is included,

but as said by others, ebay haven't made this clear.

[red_magpie]

Is there any plan to do anything about this?

When you find out, let us know!

It's in chaos at the moment. Both buyers and sellers keep asking about this. We're even seeing buyers blaming sellers and wanting to cancel purchases because their invoice is for 20% more than they won their items for.

[loudandclearhifi]

Thanks for your reply!

BREXIT has highlighted it more, it would seem; maybe there are (were!) more U.K. sellers selling in to Europe, but not worldwide? Even before BREXIT I brought this up with eBay on several occasions, due to having a lot of non-E.U. international customers, and I can't really get a straight answer.

Thanks again!