BREXIT and eBay prices

[tubaman]

Since we (the UK) left the EU on 31 December all of the prices for out of country eBay items now have Value Added Tax (VAT) at 20% added to them. So much for a tariff free deal!!
This is happening because eBay now have to collect said VAT for HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs - the UK tax authority). I think what is meant to happen is that out of country sellers are supposed to declare the applicable tax rate on their items, but instead are all ignoring this and the default 20% is being applied on top on their already tax included price (certainly the case for the EU).
Worse still, Global Shipping Program items now appear to have the old 'import duty' (effectively VAT plus a bit in most cases) cost still there but now with 20% VAT also added to the item price and the postage - ie VAT added twice! This is clearly wrong and I had a chat session with eBay last night about it. I eventually managed to get the person I chatted with to send my query to the Global Shipping people, as initially she just kept saying 'it's new rules, and that's how it is'. I don't hold out much hope of getting this fixed though.
So in a nutshell, unless they fix this a lot of things have just got at least 20% more expensive on eBay here in the UK.


(Yes, yes, we all voted to leave, so I suppose I shouldn't complain  )

[countryman]

I guess foreign (commercial) sellers could sell to UK and not charge their local VAT. But that's an additional bureaucratic effort and not many sellers are willing to do that, especially for small items, or occasional sales.
Private sellers do not add tax, so if this type of commerce is subject of taxation now, you end up with more constraints instead of less.

[tubaman]

I guess foreign (commercial) sellers could sell to UK and not charge their local VAT. But that's an additional bureaucratic effort and not many sellers are willing to do that, especially for small items, or occasional sales.
Private sellers do not add tax, so if this type of commerce is subject of taxation now, you end up with more constraints instead of less.

Until I next sell I can't be sure, but I think private EU sellers are supposed to declare their local tax rate so that eBay don't then add it back on for a sale to another EU country. I believe what is happening is that most, due to not understanding how it works, are leaving this at 0%. When the do this eBay will apply the full UK rate of 20%.
It's all rather confusing, so I'm not surprised it's a bit haywire right now.

[FABphones]

...Yes, yes, we all voted to leave, so I suppose I shouldn't complain...

In fairness :
In the referendum 51.89% voted in favour of leaving the EU (Leave), and 48.11% voted in favour of remaining a member of the EU (Remain).
It was a close call.

All aspects of BrexTwit will need time to settle.

As I heard on the tv the other day 'now the politicians can start negotiating to get back in'. 

[Jack Ryan]

Hopefully the situation will settle down as people become more familiar with the new rules.

It is fairly straight forward here in Australia and, I think, also in NZ.

If I purchase anything from outside of Australia, GST is added.
If I were to sell something outside of Australia, sales tax does not affect me.

eBay adds the tax to the invoice at the rate applicable to the importing country. eBay also forwards the collected tax to the relevant authority. The buyer pays the tax, the seller is unaffected.

Generally the tax (sales, GST, VAT) is calculated on the sum of the selling price and the postage.

Regards
Jack

[tubaman]

Looking at US Global Shipping Program items today and the 20% VAT charge appears to have gone, so that's good progress.
EU items are still mostly showing a VAT addition and I'm hoping this will slowly get dealt with once sellers understand the system better.

[FABphones]

...I think private EU sellers are supposed to declare their local tax rate so that eBay don't then add it back on for a sale to another EU country. I believe what is happening is that most, due to not understanding how it works, are leaving this at 0%. When the do this eBay will apply the full UK rate of 20%.
It's all rather confusing...

Where did you read that please.

The information issued in general seems to change by the minute but as I understand it right now; as the UK is no longer a member of the European Union 20% tax is payable on all imports to the UK from the EU.

I noticed the additional 20% added to eBay global imports is now no longer shown. I'm guessing what may have happened is the 20% was added to all purchases from outside the UK in error, instead of just those from the EU. The UK already having it's agreements in place re tax collection from outside the EU.

Things will became clearer as time goes by and everyone accepts and gets used to the changes now the UK is no longer a member of the EU and classified as a 'third country'.

UK purchases will probably become more expensive in general.

[tubaman]

Where did you read that please.

...

I'm taking it from here - https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/listings/default/vat-obligations-eu?id=4650 - but it still isn't very clear as far as I'm concerned. Thinking about it, what I said before can't work as a private seller would lose 20% if eBay didn't add it to their final price.
It's all very confusing.

"The changes at a glance

eBay will collect and remit VAT on orders up to a value of €150 imported into the EU and sold to consumers. There will no longer be a VAT exemption for small consignments up to €22.

For goods where the seller is a non-EU business but the goods are already within the EU, eBay will collect and remit VAT on sales to consumers within EU countries, and from one EU country to another.

All sellers listing on European eBay sites will have to provide a gross price and separate VAT rate, so that eBay can determine the correct amount of VAT to collect from consumers. For non-EU/UK sellers, unless you have included UK or EU VAT in your pricing calculations, the VAT rate will usually be 0%.

The current distance selling thresholds for intra-EU cross-border supplies will be abolished. EU sellers with an annual turnover of more than €10,000 for their complete intra-EU cross-border supplies will have to charge the VAT of the EU country of delivery."

[FABphones]

I'm taking it from here - https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/listings/default/vat-obligations-eu?id=4650

I think I understand what they are explaining, not very clearly worded though.

Thanks for the link.

[countryman]

It seems like there might be an exception for goods traded between private persons (consumers). Also there seems to be a GBP 135.00 threshold.
I'm not good at understanding legal terminology even in my native language, so here's a link to the UK government.