Refund amounts and VAT calculated
Customer ordered a product for £16.99 with free delivery.
They opened a return and were told the refund would be less £2.79 returns postage.
They have received a refund of £12.97 which I can only calculate as;
( (Item cost - VAT) - (Returns Postage + VAT) ) + VAT = Refund
That just doesn’t seem right. Am I missing something?
Surely the customer wouldn’t have been shown a returns postage price net of VAT but sure enough the figure they are quoting me is the net price of the figure I can see on the returns page.
Our returns page shows:
-
Order items £16.99
-
Return shipping -£3.35
-
Total Refund £13.64
Yet they’ve only received £12.97
15 replies
Seller_SITNVuZK87zGK
Yes, we’ve had this, Amazon are adding VAT onto that £3.35 (which is already an inc VAT value). If the customer is querying it, they would need to speak to amazon as there is nothing you can do (it’s the fault of amazons system so why should you)
Seller_SIHs3kFWQLFVh
We have also been having this issue.
I think it needs to be said the additional 67p is sat in your amazon account still each time. If you check a transaction report you’ll have only been deducted £12.97 so you are effectively the 67p up.
The problem is there is no simple way to issue that refund to the customer as the order shows as fully refunded!
I’m currently trying to get this resolved with amazon (and not getting anywhere).
Seller_rGtEcZnu0JTRD
There has been a few threads on this issue, seems Amazon are choosing to ignore the fact that they are taking VAT twice from the customer. Nothing we can do about it, every customer who queries this, we advise them to contact Amazon as it is ultimately Amazon that handle the financial transactions, and set the value of the postage deduction.
Seller_SIHs3kFWQLFVh
It’s not Amazon that are taking the additional VAT though, it’s us the sellers. We are left with the 67p each time, it’s Amazons VAT calculation service which wrongly causes this and I see no easy way of then getting that 67p to our customer.
I can’t really say to the customer each time, ‘yes you’re right and I have got your 67p but go to Amazon to argue about it’. It’s just a recipe for bad feedback.
Anyway I’m pushing Amazon to deal with it but so far getting the same ‘it’s right’ response each time.
Seller_nzd3XpaZpr8Gb
Has there been any updates on this?
We have had another today:
Purchase price - £24.99 (inc VAT)
Refund label - £3.35
Customer received £20.96 which means VAT was added onto the returns label before being deducted from the purchase price.
Seller_SIHs3kFWQLFVh
I’m noticing an increase in queries on this, especially since Refund at First Scan. The nature of our products means we deal with a lot of returns, and now a lot of queries!
I do just send them to Amazon support as they are issuing the refund but it doesn’t feel very professional.
I just wish Amazon would recognise this is an error and deal with it!
Seller_nzd3XpaZpr8Gb
Hate bumping old topics but this is still an issue. Incorrect label prices are being shown to customers at checkout. Do Amazon plan on ever addressing this issue? It’s embarrassing for sellers to deal with.
Seller_nzd3XpaZpr8Gb
Is anyone else still facing this problem?
Seller_SIHs3kFWQLFVh
Yes, exactly the same. VAT being added to the return label cost but I gave up telling Amazon about it as they were adamant it was correct.
Any customer queries we direct back to Amazon as they automatically process the refund in most cases now anyway.
