New Vat Rules On Purchasing Coins Outside The UK

I've paid vat on a couple of overseas orders this year. Both from European dealers and ebay

Maybe this will help explain what happens now - https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-...tax-and-duty

Basically puts the England, Scotland, and Wales on the same playing field with the EU as we have with the rest of the world.

What is interesting is that a friend of mine in the USA can send me a gift, only if the business name is not included on address. I was able to lobby against the vat charge the one time the business name was on the parcel but not the £8 handling fee.

So buying from ebay would be considered a business transaction and therefore the item can't be sent as a gift/tax free into the UK.

The same is true of buying silver bullion now from European dealers since before even with postage with the lower vat on silver bullion meant lower prices than what a UK dealer could do. UK leaving the EU seems to have made things a level playing field.

Does that mean when you advertise a coin on ebay. ebay will add that foot note I see on every foreign sales +20% vat will be added? Or is it just us who has to pay vat? Coz if it were left to me I would add it on the price of the coins . What's good for the goose is good for the gander :)

I find this interesting. I buy hammered coins. Which previously were liable to a reduced rate of vat at 5% under coding 9705 00 00 as "Collections or collectors' pieces of [..] numismatic interest."

When I tried to look up the new coding on the HMG website it gave me pretty much the same information (there were additional digits depending on the metal, but essentially the same code).

Rather like the vat on books (also 5% afaik) it sounds as if ebay are overcharging. (Which is what they used to do with the blanket charges under their Global Shipping scheme.)

Obviously, vat is separate from import duty. But what I've bought has generally been exempt from that in the past.

Anyone know different? Have things changed?

Should you buy coins not from ebay, then if they come through the post properly with a customs declaration 20% is charged by the post office before you can have them... and just to add insult to injury they add a flat £8 fee for doing so. I've been caught out once or twice on things from the US, but now it is everywhere. At the moment customs are / were waving things though due to the Brexit disruption, it remains to be seen how long this will last.

By adding the 20% at the auction checkout ebay are actually saving you the £8 fee that would be payable along with the 20% on import.

Just to add I buy from many dealers from overseas and so far only ebay has decided they are somehow the V.A.T police. I am sorry but ebay are an auction platform they have no legal authority to impose V.A.T charges. But ebay being ebay they do think they are the Law which has in the past cost them a lot of money .
Just because they have terms and conditions it doesn't mean it is actual statute law as I have reminded them before to their cost.
They might get away with their antics on the continent sitting all snug and smug in their tax haven of Luxembourg which is kind of ironic lol. But dare they try to impose that on the UK and it will bite them in the you know where.
I would actually go as far as saying ebay is complicit with the fraud perpetrated daily on a massive scale on their platform and it isn't a case of the odd isolated incident.
Least I remind you that they advertise on British TV and you have to be squeaky clean to get airtime so it beggars belief that they have somehow pulled the wool over the corporate media's eyes. Touting for business to the mass TV audience who will unsuspectingly and without a shadow of a doubt purchase crap/fake items from their platform.

I think they need to get their own house in order before they start acting as some kind of Lap dog for the VAT man ( rant over sorry)

I thought books were exempt or the VAT rate was 0% in the UK.

If you're in the UK, it might be worth writing to your MP to point out that ebay is charging VAT and asking if they're paying it to HMRC.