On a VAT-enabled marketplace, you can specify a VAT percent value for a listing.

Business sellers in Germany (DE), Austria (AT), or Switzerland (CH) have additional business-to-business (B2B) options that are discussed in German Business Features.

Value-Added Tax (VAT) is a tax on services, including services provided by eBay. You should consult an independent tax advisor and/or a local tax authority to determine what laws and rules apply to you, including whether you should register for a VAT ID with eBay and whether, and how much, VAT must be charged on items you sell.

The VAT rate varies depending on where you reside, or have a permanent address or establishment. You, or the sellers who use your application, should verify that the registration address provided to eBay is correct, particularly the country designation.

Note: In general, on VAT-enabled marketplaces, the ListingFee value that results from listing an item is the gross amount, meaning it includes VAT.

VAT-exempt sellers

You can avoid paying VAT charges on your eBay fees by registering a valid VAT-ID with eBay. You are then VAT-exempt with respect to eBay and will not be required to pay VAT charges on your eBay fees. You are responsible for paying the required VAT taxes on the goods you sell.

Your VAT status — exempt or non-exempt — is recorded in the User.VATStatus property returned from several calls. Of particular interest are these two values from the VATStatusCodeType code list:

  • VATTax—user is subject to VAT charges on eBay fees
  • VATExempt—user is registered with eBay as VAT exempt

The following calls retrieve information about a user's VAT status in the response object:

  • GetItem
  • GetItemTransactions
  • GetSellerList
  • GetSellerTransactions
  • GetUser

As an eBay VAT-exempt seller, you have the following advantages:

  • You do not pay VAT charges on your eBay fees.
  • You can specify a VATPercent between zero and 30 percent for any item that you list on a VAT-enabled marketplace. This VAT information is visible to potential buyers on the item's listing page.
  • When you provide a VATPercent, you have the option of choosing an invoice template that includes the net price (the basic price without VAT), the VAT percent, the VAT amount, and the gross price (net price plus VAT).