VAT & Excise on Second Hand Jeans from eBay. I thought VAT only charged on new items?

My girlfriend bought second hand jeans for $80 from an eBayer in the US and got a letter to say an post would hold the parcel until she pays €43 in VAT and Excise and an post fees.

I thought that VAT is only charged on new items...?

On what value do they base the excise fee?

Why do we have to pay an post for this?

Any help would be great!

Re: VAT&Excise on Second Hand Jeans from eBay. I thought VAT only charged on new items?

anytime i buy something on ebay i ask them to mark the parcel as a gift so i wont be charged any vat

Re: VAT&Excise on Second Hand Jeans from eBay. I thought VAT only charged on new items?

Vat fraud great advise !!!

Re: VAT&Excise on Second Hand Jeans from eBay. I thought VAT only charged on new items?

I would guess that as it is being shipped by post and An POST are the ones delivering it they are acting as an agent for customs.

I normally see this on stuff I get but it normally comes with DHL or Fedex.

Re: VAT&Excise on Second Hand Jeans from eBay. I thought VAT only charged on new items?

Vat is liable on these goods.

Excise duty is calculated using Tarric tables think that is the cotrrect name. All goods get a 13 digit code that enables excise officers to calculate what excise is lliable on the goods.

Correct, An post is acting as an agent just like the bank is when it deducts DIRT from your deposit account.

Re: VAT&Excise on Second Hand Jeans from eBay. I thought VAT only charged on new items?

Do all these charges apply even though the jeans are second-hand? Wouldn't the person who bought them originally already have paid the VAT?

Re: VAT&Excise on Second Hand Jeans from eBay. I thought VAT only charged on new items?

People in US do not pay Irish VAT!

In general, VAT is levied on all imports to the EU - and on certain goods there will be additional duties - eg alcohol, tobacco.

I suspect that most parcels like yours do not get stopped and investigated but that doesn't mean the VAT isn't due.

Re: VAT&Excise on Second Hand Jeans from eBay. I thought VAT only charged on new items?

I bought a golf club around 100 dollars and when it arrived by fed ex there was a 40 euro custom charge. It was second hand,I felt that 40euro on an item that was a100 dollars was rather alot of vat so i checked with revenue I was told that the vat was only 10 euro approx but that fed ex have a 30euro admin fee for collecting the vat and that is where it comes from. My friend also ordered a club from the same site and hers arrived by fed ex with no charge so we could not figure out how they apply it.

Re: VAT&Excise on Second Hand Jeans from eBay. I thought VAT only charged on new items?

I think that given the volume of parcels like these arriving, only a small proportion are checked and subjected to VAT + handling fee - 30 euro isn't a lot of money to cover the admin costs of charging and collecting the VAT - Fedex can't be covering their costs. I presume that the shipping agents have to show that they are making an effort to collect some of the VAT due or the revenue would start insisting that all parcels are checked which would probably grind the whole business of importing to a standstill!

Presumably, most of the VAT and other duties are on business transactions and are correctly registered and tax paid.