Can anyone explain this ?

[beyourb3st]

This is for a private sale. $30 more expensive for the same item on .co.uk, than .com

[beyourb3st]

Turns out, it's a VAT auto added on to the sellers listing. The seller can't see it. It isn't added on to the USA version until you try to pay. I get it. But there is one huge problem with this.

Neither country pays tax on private sales. 

Who decided tax is paid on overseas private sales ? That person is badly educated.

[papso22]

It's import VAT which is paid to the UK government on imported goods. 

It's perfectly legal.

[magpiecorner1]

Is this a UK or a US seller - and what is the item value in sterling?  'Private' made me think UK.

I would have thought you were right about VAT and private sales, but I thought business sales from UK to US were zero rated.

[fargvs]

' Neither country pays tax on private sales.' --- all private Buyers are liable to pay Import VAT in the UK.

@beyourb3st 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/paying-items/paying-tax-ebay-purchases?id=4771&st=12&pos=3&query=...

[*vyolla*]

---

@beyourb3st wrote:

Neither country pays tax on private sales. 

Import tax is payable on private sales.

Who decided tax is paid on overseas private sales ? That person is badly educated.

The government tax department of that particular country. HMRC set ours.

---

[4_bathrooms]

---

@beyourb3st wrote:

Neither country pays tax on private sales. 

Who decided tax is paid on overseas private sales ? That person is badly educated.

---

If you purchase an item from overseas you will pay VAT on that purchase regardless whether the seller is a private or business seller. If you purchase something through an online marketplace like eBay the marketplace will charge you supply VAT if the value of the item is £135 (currently US $175 approx.) or less. In short, the seller is deemed to have supplied eBay UK and eBay UK is deemed to have supplied you.

If you purchase an item from overseas that is worth more than £135 the marketplace is not responsible for charging supply VAT but you will be responsible for paying import VAT, customs duty and the carrier's handling charge on import - this is normally billed to you by the domestic carrier (Royal Mail, UPS, FedEx etc). 

This is due to rules introduced by the Government in 2021. However, even before those rules were introduced import VAT was already due on anything purchased online from overseas that was worth more than £15.00. Paying tax on imports is not a new concept.