VAT payment to other countris | Selling | eBay Canada EN

Skip to main content

VAT payment to other countris | Selling | eBay Canada EN

Buying & Selling

VAT payment to other countris

Summary: The discussion is centered around the topic of VAT payments to other countries. Various participants, including aligolf and recped, engage in the conversation, but the specific details of their discussion are not disclosed in the content provided.

Recently sent 2 different items to Germany, both buyers paid customs payments to ebay and I used Canada Post online labels and put a message in them that VAT had been paid.

Both buyers had to pay additional VAT payments in germany. Whats up with this does anyone know how to improve this? Why is ebay charging if in the other country they will be charge again?

aligolf

5717 View listings

Posted 6 months ago·Last reply 6 months ago

16 comments

recped

·6 months ago

Some general advice for anyone shipping Internationally that will reduce the chances of these issues.

Including a detailed invoice is "good" but much better is to place the invoice in a pouch on the OUTSIDE of the package. If customs do a random check the first thing they will want to see is an invoice that shows the VAT charged to and paid for by the importer, the easier it is for a custom officer to see this is if it's on the outside of the box.

After the first couple of times I had this double charged VAT problem, I started oing the invoice on the outside thing and it never happened again.

While I can't say for sure that the outside invoice was the solution but it' can't hurt and it's a simple extra step in the shipping process.

In larger scale cross border shipping the documentation on the outside is pretty much mandatory and always has been.

sapphyres-designer-jewellery

·6 months ago

@recped wrote:
Some general advice for anyone shipping Internationally that will reduce the chances of these issues.

Including a detailed invoice is "good" but much better is to place the invoice in a pouch on the OUTSIDE of the package. If customs do a random check the first thing they will want to see is an invoice that shows the VAT charged to and paid for by the importer, the easier it is for a custom officer to see this is if it's on the outside of the box.

After the first couple of times I had this double charged VAT problem, I started oing the invoice on the outside thing and it never happened again.

While I can't say for sure that the outside invoice was the solution but it' can't hurt and it's a simple extra step in the shipping process.

In larger scale cross border shipping the documentation on the outside is pretty much mandatory and always has been.

@recped

I followed up with Stallion to ask them questions about the Tax ID, and the reply I got back said the issuing authority in Stallion has to do with which platform I sold on, so if it were eBay then it would be US (they used that example).

Since you use Stallion, can you tell me what you're doing? My issuing authority for the UK bound packages is UK, but there's an eBay for UK, so that might not be the best example.

I sent a package to Ireland and tried to set up an IOSS with Ireland as the issuing authority but it has the same number as Germany and I got an error that I couldn't use the same number twice. If the correct answer for the issuing authority for that IOSS is US, then I would be able to have the one entry on the Tax ID and use that IOSS on all EU packages.

I'm thinking of starting shipping to the EU to try and get more sales, and if the NL Post stuff by Stallion is electronically handled (when I do it right), as well I'll put the invoice on the outside if that will help too. (Might be a big more difficult with the special packaging rules that Germany has, and I heard France has them too... I have cardboard envelopes I can use to ship stuff, but the invoice would go in a plastic sleeve.

Thanks, C.

lotzofuniquegoodies

·6 months ago

@aligolf wrote:
Recently sent 2 different items to Germany, both buyers paid customs payments to ebay and I used Canada Post online labels and put a message in them that VAT had been paid.

Both buyers had to pay additional VAT payments in germany. Whats up with this does anyone know how to improve this? Why is ebay charging if in the other country they will be charge again?

@aligolf

I just detail it all in the notes section when sending direct then include a copy of the packing slip with info highlighted in a pouch attached to the box. As backup you can include a packing slip inside the box...just in case. (Including a copy of packing slip is and has been standard practice when shipping internationally for years.) If buyer is advised there are duties involved the can show their transaction record as proof that it was prepaid/pre-collected. That 9 x out of 10 will suffice for customs purposes.

In practice eBay should be including a transaction record id number to each international transaction. Both where eIS has collected or ebay has collected on behalf of buyer. Same goes for when seller is paying on behalf of buyer.

msau4301

·6 months ago

Not sure if it is/was a factor but Germany had at one point a German Packaging Act (LUCID) for anyone shipping there and if I recall if you did not pay a fee to join, there would be additional fees. I had blocked Germany when I was reading about this as I didn't have enough packages going there to warrant the admin fees. Not sure if this is still in place.

clemowbooks

·6 months ago

@electronicsguru**ca.

clemowbooks

·6 months ago

I wonder if I should be removing germany from by ship to list.

Something to consider, sadly.

clemowbooks

·6 months ago

Braces and belt.

I tape the printed label to one side of the package and print the address AND THE VAT PAID INFORMATION on the other side. Also telephone number etc.

The print on the label is very small sometimes and the carrier may miss it.

FWIW- this is between the carrier/eIS and the buyer. When you delivered to the Mississauga plant, your responsibility for delivery was over.

And a Refused package is Undeliverable, so you are not required to refund, even without eIS.

At worst the buyer can leave negative feedback. Negs are not used by eBay to assess member accounts.

Which is legalities and technicalities.

As a Good Seller you do you best to help.

Or at least sound as if you want to help.

But you don't owe anyone any money.

And if they refuse to pay the VAT, the shipment goes back to eIS not to you.

@devon@ ebay - can you help?

marnotom!

·6 months ago

@clemowbooks wrote:

And if they refuse to pay the VAT, the shipment goes back to eIS not to you.

Psst, If the seller is filling out customs forms, that means they’re shipping directly to Germany and not using eIS.

transtraders

·6 months ago

I just sent one to the UK via Canada Post Tracked Packet, have never had any trouble before, so hopefully that trend holds. I wonder if I should be removing germany from by ship to list.

hockey-kong

·6 months ago

I also have shipped a number of small packets to EU, including Germany, UK, & Czechia, always write the Vat paid IOSS # on the shipping label.

But honestly don't know if my buyers are being charged again. None of them have complained or messaged me so must assume all is well.

sapphyres-designer-jewellery

·6 months ago

@aligolf wrote:
Recently sent 2 different items to Germany, both buyers paid customs payments to ebay and I used Canada Post online labels and put a message in them that VAT had been paid.

Both buyers had to pay additional VAT payments in germany. Whats up with this does anyone know how to improve this? Why is ebay charging if in the other country they will be charge again?

I was going to revisit this topic soon since my business partner and I were discussing if we could start shipping to the EU again, but your story suggests this is not a good idea.

I've had it happen to Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, buyers being charged VAT even though they already paid. The Netherlands buyer paid it, the Spain buyer asked for a copy of the invoice and disputed it and won, and the Belgium buyer was new to eBay, wouldn't pay his VAT, and successfully got his money back because the tracking showing on eBay did not say he refused the package (but when I went to parcelsapp to look, that's what it said there). I was out $50 USD on that order having to refund, plus I paid to ship it, the package didn't come back, it got destroyed.

I've indicated on all my packages that VAT was paid and provided the number, but customs doens't read, they don't care, and they just charge the buyer VAT anyway. If they're going to be doing this, they should stop collecting it on eBay, it's illegal to collect taxes twice on the same package, but that's what EU customs is doing.

C.

recped

·6 months ago

@sapphyres-designer-jewellery wrote:
I was going to revisit this topic soon since my business partner and I were discussing if we could start shipping to the EU again, but your story suggests this is not a good idea.

If you are shipping via Stallion / Post NL you won't have any issues, the shipments are cleared electronically through customs prior to the them leaving Canada. No one from Customs will every actually see the package.

The only time I had trouble was in the first few months of IOSS being an actual thing.

PostNL Tracked is a great service, it has had very good pricing for anywhere in Europe although I expect an increase any day just like every other carrier under current conditions.

sapphyres-designer-jewellery

·6 months ago

@recped wrote:
@sapphyres-designer-jewellery wrote:
I was going to revisit this topic soon since my business partner and I were discussing if we could start shipping to the EU again, but your story suggests this is not a good idea.

If you are shipping via Stallion / Post NL you won't have any issues, the shipments are cleared electronically through customs prior to the them leaving Canada. No one from Customs will every actually see the package.

The only time I had trouble was in the first few months of IOSS being an actual thing.

PostNL Tracked is a great service, it has had very good pricing for anywhere in Europe although I expect an increase any day just like every other carrier under current conditions.

I'd have to dig up the complaint and see if it was Chit Chats or Stallion, but I did get three complaints relating to having to pay VAT and that was while using the service.

Perhaps things have changed and things are being cleared properly, or maybe I did something wrong (at some point in the past I didn't know how to add the tax ID, maybe this was the change that is making them clear now... I've only done a few in the past few years).

C.

recped

·6 months ago

@aligolf

What was the value of these two shipment?

Two thing to consider, eBay does not always collect EU VAT (depends on value), also If the value is over 150 Euro there could be duties applied over and above the VAT.

Thjis type os issue was common in 2021 when eBay first started collecting VAT but I have not seen any reports of this for a long time (those old reports were almost always for shipments to Germany).

marnotom!

·6 months ago

Was the customs information entered electronically? Did you enter eBay's IOSS (Import One-Stop Shop) number as part of that process?

Information from Canada Post:

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/support/personal/international-destination-details.page?countrycode=DE

Older but still mostly relevant thread on this subject (just don't add another post to it):

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/IOSS-to-EU/td-p/504351

aligolf

OP6 months ago

Yes IOSS number entered along with VAT Paid all electronically on Canada Post online label