Charged incorrectly for VAT

[greeny_thing]

Hello all,

I have just received a VAT charge on a purchase for second hand trousers.  The amount is trivial but should not have been applied. I live in Wales and the vendor in England.  When I contacted Ebay I was informed that the VAT amount was applied because Wales was not part of the UK. I was surprised. I tried to correct the agent but they were resistant.  I pointed out that if Wales is being identified as not in the UK then the EBAY system has an error. They insisted that Ebay could not refund the VAT as it belonged to HMRC and THEY had made the charge. Despite my protests that their system was at fault and no VAT was applicable I was repeatedly informed they could not correct the charge and that I would have to claim the VAT back from HMRC as that was government policy.

I feel somewhat frustrated.  How do I escalate this within Ebay.

[papso22]

I think the first thing is to check that what you think happened actually happened, for example, ebay now separates out the VAT included in the buyer protection fee when they show buyer's the purchase breakdown, are you sure this isn't what you are seeing?

The other time VAT can come up is when there is any hint whatsoever of something overseas about an account (and I don't mean Wales).  So if the seller first registered somewhere else, or on .com for example, that may result in ebay treating it as an import.

Perhaps you could provide a screenshot of where you are seeing the VAT? 

[greeny_thing]

I checked all that. 

[greeny_thing]

I checked all that.

[greeny_thing]

The vendor is in England. The agent told me it was because Wales had been identified as not in the UK. He could of course have been BS.ing me.  The charge is shown as applied in the order details as VAT.

Even if the vendor has changed location in the past then it is still an Ebay error and I should not have to approach HMRC for a refund.

[greeny_thing]

I was stonewalled by the agent who just kept posting cut and pasted excerpts from the UK tax policy regarding imports. I'm not sure what to do now.

[*vyolla*]

@greeny_thing 

Can you provide a screenshot of where you're seeing import VAT being added please. 

[greeny_thing]

I have snipped a portion of the order details as the screen shot contains a lot of personal information.

[61stephenuk]

That looks to be showing the VAT part of the buyers fee on a £20 item ,this is not an additional fee but included in the buyer fee

[papso22]

Someone has answered you on the main boards, it is the VAT that was correctly included in the buyer protection fee charged by ebay.

[*vyolla* · Accepted solution]

Copy of the thread that @sml192 has posted on the buying board for you.

@greeny_thing

This is in response to your thread titled 'Charged incorrectly for VAT' as I can't respond directly to that thread. Apologies for that.

I have snipped a portion of the order details as the screen shot contains a lot of personal information.

What you have been told by the customer service representative is complete nonsense. 

The 25p VAT that you are seeing definitely relates to the new Buyer Protection Fee, as summised by @papso22.  If it related to the actual item price or the postage then it would be a larger amount.  There should be some mention of the Buyer Protection Fee on the order details together with a breakdown of the amount charged. 

It would appear that the actual price being charged by the seller is £19.76 (bit of an odd amount admittedly). 

£19.76 + BPF (4% + 72p) = £21.27

(Note eBay are actually currently charging 72p not 75p as stated on the Buyer Protection help page).

So that would make the total Buyer Protection Fee £1.51 which equates to £1.26 + 20% VAT (25p).

The VAT charge is, therefore, correct and there is nothing to reclaim.

You aren't the first person to query this and certainly won't be the last.  I think it's going to cause quite a bit of confusion. 

[greeny_thing]

Thank you for your explanation. It makes sense. Which just goes to show that Ebays agent was just spouting BS concerning Wales not being part of the UK causing the charge.

[greeny_thing]

Many thanks.

[red_magpie]

just goes to show that Ebays agent was just spouting BS concerning Wales not being part of the UK

eBay's agent was probably in the Philippines.