eBay has started Revealing the VAT Tax Numbers of all UK Sellers

eBay is the largest online marketplace in the world. This is an American-based auction site which has special divisions in many countries including the United Kingdom. There are thousands of sellers (and buyers) from the United Kingdom that use this online platform on a daily basis. In addition, there are thousands of transactions that are going through their system. Naturally, just like in the case of physical stores, eBay sellers have to take care of Value Added Tax.

In order to make things simpler and more convenient for everyone involved in the process of selling and buying items via eBay, the management of this auction website has revealed that they will start showing UK VAT numbers on every listing. So, In case a seller has provided their UK VAT number to this company, this information will be shown on their listings automatically. This change was introduced a few days ago and applies to all UK sellers on eBay.

eBay has advised all sellers from the UK to check the number they have shared with eBay. In case you are not sure whether your number is correct and valid, you should visit the Manage VAT numbers page from your account. This is where you will get information about the number you have used.

VAT, or Value Added Tax, is a special type of tax that applies to almost any type of services or products in the EU, the United Kingdom, USA and many other countries. The management of eBay has made a few analysis and they have concluded that UK VAT impacts sellers in two different ways.

First of all, UK sellers may have to charge this type of tax on the sales they make via eBay. Additionally, these sellers may have to pay VAT even on their eBay fees. Of course, every situation is different and sellers have to be careful.

UK sellers compliant with the specific VAT obligations have been complaining about eBay’s policy of managing foreign sellers who are not registered for VAT. There were many cases where Chinese sellers were avoiding VAT which allowed them to be more competitive compared to UK companies.

In any case, the UK section of eBay has reminded eBay sellers that they have to take care of VAT and that they are working closely with HMRC, the official UK tax agency in order to stop tax evasion.