Thanks pjak. EBay Inc. will start charging Value Added Tax (VAT) on European seller fees from July 1, in accordance with European Union regulations, the company said Thursday.
Unless sellers submit a valid VAT exemption number (available to registered businesses) they will be charged their national VAT rate. Rates vary from country to country. VAT is 25 percent in Denmark and Sweden, while Spain and Germany have it set at 16 percent. U.K. sellers will pay 17.5 percent on each fee.
It is too soon to tell what effect this will have on eBay's business in Europe, Jennie Reed, eBay's U.K. marketing communications manager, said Thursday.
The EU issued a directive last year requiring digital services to charge VAT, effective from July 1, and this applies to all eBay sellers who live in Europe, she said.
EBay is also changing its fee structure and in some cases this will see sellers fees reduced, Reed said.
Prices in the U.K., however, will rise. For example, the insertion fee, including VAT, for a car will increase from ฃ5 (US$8) to ฃ6 and for real estate listing from ฃ30 to ฃ35.
News source: IDG - EBay to start charging European taxes
