German VAT being added to displayed price during checkout when delivery address is in N.Ireland

[txt.ltd]

Brexit happened ages ago. Fix this please.

For sales from EU countries to Northern Ireland, VAT is charged by and collected by the seller, not the marketplace. So what is eBay collecting VAT for here, and why is it collecting 19% (German) and not 20% (UK)

For clarification, NO VAT should be added to the sale price. According to all item pages, all sales prices include VAT.

Item ID of the item in screens: 373784651306

[txt.ltd]

This seems to happen only when the item is over a certain value, which looks to be about £135. Below that value the VAT is not added at checkout and the price remains the same

[txt.ltd]

Anything, eBay?

[anita@ebay]

Hi @txt.ltd, thanks for your post.

I looked into this for you. However, I was not able to replicate the issue since the transaction was not completed and the item in question is currently out of stock.

Would you have any other example that I can take a look at? 

Thank you,

Anita

[txt.ltd]

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anita@ebay wrote:

Hi @txt.ltd, thanks for your post.

I looked into this for you. However, I was not able to replicate the issue since the transaction was not completed and the item in question is currently out of stock.

Would you have any other example that I can take a look at? 

Thank you,

Anita

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Sure, try 353962586619

[txt.ltd]

Any ideas, eBay?

[anita@ebay]

Hi @txt.ltd, this is currently being reviewed, and I will post back once I have an update.

Thanks,

Anita

[fotherbale]

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@txt.ltd wrote:

For sales from EU countries to Northern Ireland, VAT is charged by and collected by the seller, not the marketplace. So what is eBay collecting VAT for here, and why is it collecting 19% (German) and not 20% (UK)

For clarification, NO VAT should be added to the sale price. According to all item pages, all sales prices include VAT.

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I realise that Northern Ireland is a bit of a special case, but since the UK and Europe wide changes to the way VAT is collected, for eBay sales it is now the marketplace (ebay) who collect the appropriate VAT according to the territories in which the buyer and the item purchased reside, and not the actual seller.  

As to why you are being charged the Germany rate of VAT instead of the UK rate, I don't know, but it is very likely that the ebay system hasn't been correctly set up to cope with the rather more involved VAT rules for Northern Ireland. 

I would recommend that you avoid holding your breath whilst waiting for a reply from ebay, and certainly don't expect the issue to be sorted any time soon.  There are issues with VAT since the changes that have taken them many months to sort out, and I still see posts cropping up relating to VAT being charged in the wrong categories, or being incorrectly calculated!

[txt.ltd]

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@fotherbale wrote:

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@txt.ltd wrote:

For sales from EU countries to Northern Ireland, VAT is charged by and collected by the seller, not the marketplace. So what is eBay collecting VAT for here, and why is it collecting 19% (German) and not 20% (UK)

For clarification, NO VAT should be added to the sale price. According to all item pages, all sales prices include VAT.

---

I realise that Northern Ireland is a bit of a special case, but since the UK and Europe wide changes to the way VAT is collected, for eBay sales it is now the marketplace (ebay) who collect the appropriate VAT according to the territories in which the buyer and the item purchased reside, and not the actual seller.  

As to why you are being charged the Germany rate of VAT instead of the UK rate, I don't know, but it is very likely that the ebay system hasn't been correctly set up to cope with the rather more involved VAT rules for Northern Ireland. 

I would recommend that you avoid holding your breath whilst waiting for a reply from ebay, and certainly don't expect the issue to be sorted any time soon.  There are issues with VAT since the changes that have taken them many months to sort out, and I still see posts cropping up relating to VAT being charged in the wrong categories, or being incorrectly calculated!

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Ironically there hasn't been much change for Northern Ireland. For EU transactions, it's exactly the same for us as it was before Brexit. The problem is that eBay made changes after Brexit and applied them to the entire UK.

If anything's a special case here, it's GB<>EU transactions, not NI<>EU transactions. eBay doesn't collect VAT/GST/IVA etc for intra-EU transactions where the seller is based in the UK or the EU, and NI<>EU are such transactions when it comes to goods.

For some time after Brexit, VAT was being collected on NI<>EU transactions, because eBay didn't fix their system for Northern Ireland (or they changed the entire system for the whole of the UK, neglecting the Northern Ireland Protocol.)

The VAT rules for Northern Ireland couldn't be simpler:

• NI<>EU transactions: same as EU<>EU
• NI<>GB transactions: same as GB<>GB

Where the seller is based in the UK or the EU, the marketplace VAT collection does not apply to:

• NI<>EU transactions (intra-EU transactions)
• NI<>GB transactions (domestic transactions)

The VAT is collected by the seller for such transactions as:

• Seller in England; buyer in Northern Ireland
• Seller in Germany; buyer in Northern Ireland
• Seller in Northern Ireland; buyer in Spain

Where the seller from those transactions is not VAT-registered, no VAT is to be collected. The VAT is already paid at the time of import.

I am used to Northern Ireland being an afterthought. But it's been almost 3 years since the marketplace VAT changes came into effect. I must conclude that as a company they simply don't care, and when one employee tries to look into it, they run into a dead end and I never hear back. I don't really blame the employees.

Thanks for your comment.

[fotherbale]

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I am used to Northern Ireland being an afterthought. But it's been almost 3 years since the marketplace VAT changes came into effect. I must conclude that as a company they simply don't care, and when one employee tries to look into it, they run into a dead end and I never hear back. I don't really blame the employees.

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My feeling is that it is more likely that the calibre of employee they have in their IT department is not capable of understanding what the respective rules are and how to implement the software set-up to deal with them on the platform.  This is based on 20 years of experiencing repeated and frequent issues with poor configuration of the site settings and processes, and ongoing failure of those responsible to sort out many of the problems!

It is very definitely the employees at the root of the issues - both the IT team who don't seem capable of making things work correctly, and the advisory team who routinely make promises and assurances that X problem will be rectified within Y hours,  but it never does get rectified, and when you ask customer services direct, they fob you off and never call you back (even if only to explain that they don't have a solution).

[anita@ebay]

Hi @txt.ltd, the team reviewed this and confirmed that the VAT displayed on the checkout in this case would be correct.

As this is a shipment from Germany to Northern Ireland, eBay does not have 'Collect and remit' obligation on this order. Northern Ireland is not included in collect & remit and for shipments between the EU and Northern Ireland, EU rules apply.

If the goods are in the EU (Germany in this case), VAT obligation stays with EU (German) seller and the seller will be responsible for collecting VAT (e.g. 19%) from the buyer. Therefore, the seller provided VAT (e.g. 19%) is included in the item price and shows VAT inclusive price at the check-out.

Thank you,

Anita

[txt.ltd]

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anita@ebay wrote:

Hi @txt.ltd, the team reviewed this and confirmed that the VAT displayed on the checkout in this case would be correct.

As this is a shipment from Germany to Northern Ireland, eBay does not have 'Collect and remit' obligation on this order. Northern Ireland is not included in collect & remit and for shipments between the EU and Northern Ireland, EU rules apply.

If the goods are in the EU (Germany in this case), VAT obligation stays with EU (German) seller and the seller will be responsible for collecting VAT (e.g. 19%) from the buyer. Therefore, the seller provided VAT (e.g. 19%) is included in the item price and shows VAT inclusive price at the check-out.

Thank you,

Anita

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Thanks for the update, Anita.

Two things:

1. The issue remains that the price displayed on the listing is not the same as the price displayed in checkout (and basket.) The amount displayed in the ad needs to include any VAT chargeable at checkout, otherwise it must be made visible that the price displayed is VAT-exclusive.

2. The VAT rate the seller charges is dependent on their total EU (+ Northern Ireland) turnover. If it is over €10,000 (I think) then the place of supply is the destination country, not the origin country. So they should charge 20% (UK rate) not 19% (Germany rate.) But all of that is nothing to do with eBay when it comes to intra-EU transactions (including EU<>Northern Ireland transactions.)

The issue is not that it's 19% or 20%. The issue is that eBay is displaying different prices on listings and in checkout. If eBay is not adjusting the prices by adding or subtracting VAT in these transactions, why are the prices displayed different? See the picture.

I tried the same item on eBay DE and it is exactly the same issue. If I change my delivery address to Germany, it shows 'inkl. MwSt' (includes tax/VAT/GST) under the price on the ad, which is correct at €249.99. But with the delivery address to Northern Ireland, there is no mention of 'MwSt' and the price displayed is the VAT-exclusive price (and it could be wrong as well, if the seller is required to charge 20% and not 19%.)

Thanks

[txt.ltd]

Would like to know if this is being looked into

[txt.ltd]

It's 1.5 months later and I am checking to see if anyone cares about this.

Reminder: it is illegal in the UK to display VAT-exclusive prices without stating they are VAT-exclusive

[enriquitobike]

I am glad someone raising this up, but as i can see bay doesnt want to avide to EU-UK laws. This hapens with lots of other products sold from Europe to NI and adding VAT at the checkput when the seller has alredy added the VAT is ILLEGAL. 

[txt.ltd]

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@enriquitobike wrote:

I am glad someone raising this up, but as i can see bay doesnt want to avide to EU-UK laws. This hapens with lots of other products sold from Europe to NI and adding VAT at the checkput when the seller has alredy added the VAT is ILLEGAL. 

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I'll just report it to HMRC as eBay don't care clearly.