Just found this paying tax announcement on ebay

[Chrissy]

I've been trying to find out if there are any changes on ebay following the UK EU deal changes and came across some listings in one of my searches showing that VAT will apply. Then after hunting around I found this page of information that applies to ebay purchases that I haven't seen before. It mentions quite a few changes in case anyone is interested in reading it.

Paying tax on eBay purchases (http://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/paying-items/paying-tax-ebay-purchases?id=4771&st=2&pos=2&query=Paying%20tax%20on%20eBay%20purchases&intent=tax)

[eachan]

Very interesting, Chrissy. I don't sell through eBay but much of the information is general.

[An old bloke]

So, it's business as usual in most cases.

[Chrissy]

It's quite different now for buying items worth less than £135 from some countries (seems to exclude Japan) outside the UK. VAT is being charged automatically by eBay when you pay.

Not sure how Global Shipping will work now. I will still probably avoid anything shipped by Global Priority.

It would appear that there is some improvement, at least from my perspective, since I can now buy items on eBay worth up to £135 and the VAT will be charged up front. Of course for items worth more than £135 the regular Customs rules will still apply.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

This has been around for quite a while. I think it was in 2019 that I was stung for GST on an ebay purchase. I wrote to ebay services and had it out with them because the law clearly stated that GST (and VAT as I recall) were only applicable when the seller exceeded a specific sales threshold per annum that indicated they were formally a commercial entity (which in my case they quite clearly were nowhere near). Ebay has apparently taken it upon themselves to ignore this clause and apply tax to every sale and collect it themselves. Normally it would be the individual seller who would pay the tax (and pass it to the consumer), but ebay evoked an online marketplace rule that allows them to do it. I have to assume that there is some monetary advantage for them doing so.

This is one of a few reasons I don't buy on ebay anymore.

[RobJohnson]

I am much less optimistic than most who say business as usual, any obstacle to trade or even private sales cannot be a good thing.

Never bought into the BS of pro Brexiteers who were there to elevate themselves politically and I am sceptical about the true motives of certain politicians who want to take their portion of the UK back in to Europe.

[Chrissy]

I am much less optimistic than most who say business as usual, any obstacle to trade or even private sales cannot be a good thing.

Never bought into the BS of pro Brexiteers who were there to elevate themselves politically and I am sceptical about the true motives of certain politicians who want to take their portion of the UK back in to Europe.
I've lived my life out of the EU then within the EU and now out of it again. The world won't stop turning and life goes on. Adapt and carry on. :)

[RobJohnson]

The world has changed a great deal in how it trades over the past 50 years, I am concerned that a here today and gone tomorrow politician who has a less than blemish free past is making decisions that impacts millions of people. I was looking at some news clips of BoJo and it is not that long ago that the police were called to his girlfriends apartment because of his behaviour.

This is the wrong place to talk politics, so I will park that one fttb.

I am much more concerned about trade with the EU and especially how financial services have been left out of the Trade agreement, Paris would love to have a share of the London financial market and for the past 6 years has been setting itself up as an alternative.

This sector is focused mainly on London but also Edniburgh and contributes around £130 billion to the UK economy and employs well over 1 million jobs. For example, in Edinburgh around 10% of jobs are in financial and related professional services. This market constitutes 40% of export sales to the EU and there is no agreement for its continuance, as I said, Paris would be delighted to pull up the financial services drawbridge, it has built up the capabilities and resources to be a success.

You can tell that this is a hobbyhorse of mine, if we get it wrong and the business goes away we, meaning England and Scotland, will never recover that lost business and it will be outside the control of UK plc to adapt.