VAT Charged

[bigletx]

I bought 2 items this morning. They are both supplied in the UK. When I got to check out I was charged VAT on both items. The listings did not say that VAT would be applied to the price shown in the listing.  

DOES THIS MEAN THAT ALL PRICES SHOWN ON EBAY ARE NOW SUBJECT TO SEPARATE VAT CHARGES ?

[papso22]

Are you sure it was VAT on the items and not VAT on the buyer protection fee or the postage?

Can you screenshot the order details?

[tommystrezures]

Was the account that you purchased from registered in the uk? As papso says a screen shot would be useful so we can give the correct information to you.

[fargvs]

BPF > Does not apply to Registered Business Sellers but an additional 4% Buyer Protection fee + £0.75 starting on 4th February is added to every Buyer purchase from Privately registered sellers only > 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/paying-items/buyer-protection-fee?id=5594

otherwise >>>

VAT > Even with an item shown as located within the UK, if either the buyer or seller uses an eBay  account that is, or has been Registered outside the UK  site at any time, it will automatically trigger an additional UK 20% IMPORT VAT  fee payable to HMRC/UK Government >

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/paying-items/paying-tax-ebay-purchases?

id=4771&st=2&pos=2&query=P...

[tobiasd4]

Your last 2 feedbacks as a buyer show sellers are based in China but say posting from UK.

You will still pay VAT even though posted from UK.

[bigletx]

This is Rubbish !  I bought 2 items from eBay suppliers today.  Both listings stated categorically that they were UK suppliers.  Both suppliers had UK sounding names.  Both suppliers quoted UK item locations; delivery within a couple of days and both suppliers have UK VAT numbers.  Neither listing said VAT would be added in addition to the price shown. 

eBay's own website says quite clearly that:

"Items delivered to the UK (including digital goods or eservices)

Value Added Tax (VAT) generally applies to purchases by UK consumers, and prices on eBay.co.uk are shown inclusive of VAT."

By adding VAT after the order has been placed, without any prior warning, eBay must be contravening several areas of UK legislation, eg Sale of Goods Act, Distance Selling Regulations, Trading Standards etc. as well as HMRC VAT rules.

It's eBay's responsibility to ensure that overseas suppliers who fraudulently claim to be based in the UK are suitably admonished and/or ejected from eBay's business marketplace.  

I will not be using eBay anymore.  Supplier management is non existent and its pricing policies, buyer protection charges and fees are now quite misleading/confusing.

[tobiasd4]

Seller didn't claim to be in UK. 

Their feedback page clearly states they are based in China. 

A lot of Chinese sellers do have UK warehouses.

[red_magpie]

Both listings stated categorically that they were UK suppliers.

Yes, and many even add a Union Flag to their adverts! That doesn't mean that they are a UK seller, qny more than having a UK sounding name does.

What you probably haven't checked is the location of the seller. eBay should make this clearer. The listing will show the location of the item, but this doesn't mean that the seller is at the same place. To discover the country in which the seller is registered you sometimes have to visit their feedback page. You will find that it's in China.

In short, if either the seller or the item location is outside the UK, VAT will be added for certain purchases. For full information see: https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/paying-items/paying-tax-ebay-purchases?id=4771&st=3&pos=2&query=P...

[bigletx]

Thanks for the prompt feedback.

Incidentally, on eBay's explanatory page referred to by red_magpie above, eBay states:

"If additional tax is applicable on your eBay purchase, you'll see this indicated on the listing page and the tax amount will be shown on the checkout page before you pay."

The listings pages for these items makes no reference at all to VAT being applicable. So it seems that eBay's sellers are ignoring this rule and eBay is making no effort at all to police it.

So, before making eBay purchases in future I will need to trawl through seller feedback or otherwise try to ascertain in which country the supplier is domiciled, regardless of whether or not the items I'm buying are supplied from a UK warehouse. This is rubbish  !!

As stated above, the same eBay page states:

... "Value Added Tax (VAT) generally applies to purchases by UK consumers, and prices on eBay.co.uk are shown inclusive of VAT."  - This is clearly not the case !

This whole issue seems to be a failure in eBay implementing and managing its own rules. 

[red_magpie]

So, before making eBay purchases in future I will need to trawl through seller feedback or otherwise try to ascertain in which country the supplier is domiciled

Correct. Otherwise, there's often no way of knowing.

As for additional tax amounts payable being shown on the Listing page, overseas sellers can't advise buyers exactly what taxes may apply in their countries. Many do provide a general warning that the buyer will be responsible for any import duties payable. But eBay obviously doesn't seem to enforce even this.

eBay also doesn't warn buyers that item purchase direct from sellers in other countries may not (and often don't) comply with UK safety requirements. As eBay makes clear in the user agreement, "they do not guarantee the existence, quality, safety or legality of items advertised, or the truth or accuracy of descriptions" of items sold here.

As I keep reminding buyers, buying on eBay isn't like buying from the shops!