VAT CHARGE

[joh_7999]

I'm a seller (Norway) and the buyer is from Thailand then it shows that I was charged 25% VAT at the top of my ebay fee. Does anyone knows about this? 

[cstpos]

@joh_7999  If you Google VAT in Thailand, there are several good sites that show up. It means Value Added Tax. I know I saw it when I was in Italy, and several other European countries. One of the search results was mazars.co.th, and they show a list of who is exempt from the VAT. I'm not sure if your ebay rules are the same in Norway as here in the US. We sell internationally using the ebay Global Shipping Program, so all the taxes, duties, and customs are handled by ebay, directly to the buyer. They calculate, charge, and collect. It was getting very confusing with embargoes, restrictions, customs, etc constantly changing.

You could ask your buyer if they are willing to pay the VAT. You can cancel (ebay will ding or demerit your account) if you feel it's worth it. You can then research the various fees and charges and revise all your listings to reflect on where you will ship. Best of Luck!

[soh.maryl]

Somehow I was under the impression that the BUYER is charged the VAT based on the country where the item is delivered.

Was I wrong about that also?  

[redmodelt]

You are asking on the USA board, most sellers/buyers here would not deal with VAT. You might be better off asking on your home board, or one of the EU boards. Isn't the VAT paid by the buyer not the seller?  Check your sellers page to make sure who was charged. Could be like the US, we would see and pay fees on the sales tax (something like a VAT) but would not see that money. It is held by eBay and paid to the state/county/city the item was sold in. 

[slippinjimmy]

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@joh_7999 wrote:

I'm a seller (Norway) and the buyer is from Thailand then it shows that I was charged 25% VAT at the top of my ebay fee. Does anyone knows about this? 

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I read this as the 25% VAT is being charged on your FEES (not the item), this is standard for eBay in countries that have a Value Added Tax which applies to goods and services.

The same VAT on fees is charged to sellers in the EU, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway etc.

I cannot find anything specific to Thailand on the eBay Tax pages and while eBay does collect Norwegian  VAT from buyers who reside in Norway when they purchase from outside Norway I don't think there is a similar thing for Thailand.

The US does not have a Value Added Tax, the US has State Sales Tax but it would not apply to eBay fees.

[48hrs-clothing]

eBay is providing you a service and as a VAT registered businessNorway requires eBay to collect VAT  on their fees which is then paid to your government.

VAT( Value added tax) should always be included in seller's listed or final price and this amount to be paid to relevent authorities.

Following is justr and illustration.

Seller wants to see the item for $125-00 which includes VAT @ 25%.

Item price is therefore $100 and VAT is $25.00.

eBay charges final valu fees of 12.5% on $ 125 and this is = $15.63 and VAT @25% is an additional $3.91 = $19.54

Sellers recives $125-00 minus $ 19.54 = $ 105.46

Seller pays his government $25.00 minus $3.91 paid to ebay = $21.09

Seller keeps $ 84.37 for his item after paying eBay fees and all VAT due.

Hope this explains / helps you.

[lacemaker3]

@joh_7999,

The answer from @slippinjimmy is correct. The VAT rate in Norway is 25%, and unless you are a business seller (registered for VAT) then eBay is required to collect the Norway VAT on the services they provide to you (on your eBay fees).

This has nothing to do with the buyer's location. You would have to pay Norway VAT on your eBay fees no matter where the item was sold to.

[slippinjimmy]

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@lacemaker3 wrote:

@joh_7999,

The answer from @slippinjimmy is correct. The VAT rate in Norway is 25%, and unless you are a business seller (registered for VAT) then eBay is required to collect the Norway VAT on the services they provide to you (on your eBay fees).

This has nothing to do with the buyer's location. You would have to pay Norway VAT on your eBay fees no matter where the item was sold to.

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A slight clarification......

The VAT on fees is charged to ALL sellers in Norway including sellers who are registered, but a Registered seller can use the tax paid to eBay as an Input Tax Credit (in other words the tax is refundable).

[lacemaker3]

Thanks for the clarification. It appears that the rules have been updated since the last time I looked into this.

[714ricki]

The VAT is charged to the buyer. The ebay system just collects the VAT from the buyer as part of the payment & then reports that the VAT is paid in the Customs form. However, you will see the grand total total payment as price of the item + shipping + tax/VAT. Just like orders here in the USA where ebay collects the different state sales taxes on our behalf. 

Good luck!

[slippinjimmy]

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@714ricki wrote:

The VAT is charged to the buyer. The ebay system just collects the VAT from the buyer as part of the payment & then reports that the VAT is paid in the Customs form. However, you will see the grand total total payment as price of the item + shipping + tax/VAT. Just like orders here in the USA where ebay collects the different state sales taxes on our behalf. 

Good luck!

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I don't believe this is the OP's issue, they are talking about VAT on FEES, not Sales Tax collected from the buyer by eBay.

[femmefan1946]

EBay charges VAT (goods and services tax- in Canada it is called the GST)  on its services in countries where such taxes exist.

So if your eBay fees (including listing, options, Promoted Listings, Final Value Fees on sale and on shipping, etc.) totalled $100 and the Norwegian VAT is 25%, you would be charged $25 and eBay would remit that to the government of Norway.

The USA does not have any federal/central government sales taxes, which may explain some of the confusion here.