VAT charged a second time on arrival in EU, shipped with Ebay International from US

[angel-exterminador]

Order departed from US, entered Europe via Germany, got relabeled by Deutsche Post, and upon arrival in Ireland, Irish customs charge VAT a second time. I assume relabeling might be the issue.
I spent hours chatting with ebay support: got kicked off without a solution the first time, a second time I was promised a full refund of the extra VAT + the handling chargers, but never got that refund, in spite of yet another chat session.

The link from ebay.ie led me to this forum, not sure it is the right one?

[*vyolla*]

eBay can't refund any excess import VAT.

Your tax office website should have a webform to reclaim any excess/overpaid import fees.

[plpmr]

have a read, especially request a VAT refund =

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/paying-items/paying-tax-ebay-purchases?id=4771

[fargvs]

--- '' I assume relabeling might be the issue.''

Your account is registered in Belgium --- order from USA > Germany --- then relabelled for delivery to Ireland --- probably treated as a new transaction and subject to Eire Vat and fees. 

[angel-exterminador]

This is what Irish customs website says: "If you believe you are entitled to a refund because of an error in the original import declaration, you should contact the courier or postal operator. "
This is what the postal operator said on the phone: "you have to claim the VAT back from the seller"

...

[angel-exterminador]

I'm guessing parcel routing is related to destination country rather than where my account is registered. 
I have received plenty parcels before, from Ebay or eg Etsy, with VAT prepaid, from outside Europe. Yet this is the second time I get charged, both parcels coming from the US in recent months.

[angel-exterminador]

I have been provided the link to upload my proof of payment, but there hasn't been any follow up, even after me contacting support again

[*vyolla*]

---

@angel-exterminador wrote:

This is what Irish customs website says: "If you believe you are entitled to a refund because of an error in the original import declaration, you should contact the courier or postal operator. "
This is what the postal operator said on the phone: "you have to claim the VAT back from the seller"

...

---

The advice to claim the VAT back from the seller is wrong, eBay sellers don't receive any import fees. 

Do have the equivalent to our HMRC tax office? We have a webform that we use to reclaim any overpaid import fees or customs duty.

[plpmr]

it can take 7/10 days.