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VAT and invoicing

Please note, this document is for guidance only, nothing contained in this document constitutes any form of tax advice and must not be relied on as such. For professional VAT advice, please contact a qualified expert.

Does indy.auction charge VAT?

indy.auction is an online auction platform. We charge VAT on our auctioneering services to the sellers on the platform. These are charged to the seller after our service has been provided.

Does indy.auction invoice the buyer?

No – Because we are not the seller, indy.auction only sends a ‘Payment Request’ to the buyer with instructions on how to pay for their items.

Does the Payment Request show any VAT charges?

No – As indy.auction is not the seller, the ‘Payment Request’ only contains:

  • Details on the items bought
  • The total funds to be transferred
  • How to pay (either by card or PayPal)
  • Any applicable VAT will need to be calculated by the seller from the total price.

Where are the funds paid?

indy.auction offers Stripe and PayPal as the payment gateway. Sellers are paid directly into their Stripe or PayPal account minus the indy.auction fee.  

What if a buyer requests an invoice for their accounts?

Should this be requested, the seller of the item is responsible for creating an invoice for the buyer. The Auction Collective will contact the seller with the buyer’s request.

What should be included in an invoice?

The invoice should be for the full amount paid by the buyer and include any applicable VAT charges as per the seller’s standard business invoicing.

Does a seller have to send an invoice to the buyer?

No – only if the buyer requests an invoice.

What if a seller is VAT-exempt and does not create VAT invoices?

In this instance, a seller is required to provide a sales receipt for the buyer as per the seller’s standard business practice.

How should a VAT registered seller account for their sale proceeds?

Any sales made through the indy.auction platform should be accounted for in a seller’s usual accounting methods.

Any VAT registered sellers need to account for VAT within the total sold price.

For example: An item that sells for £12,000 at auction will breakdown to £10,000 + £2,000 VAT.

If an item has been donated to a charity to auction, who is responsible for invoicing the buyer and accounting for the sale?

As the item has been donated to the charity to sell, the charity is therefore the seller and if requested should invoice the buyer and account for any applicable VAT.

If an artist is donating the sale proceeds of an auctioned artwork, who is responsible for invoicing the buyer and accounting for the sale?

In this instance, the artist is selling the artwork and making a donation to the charity from their sale proceeds.

Therefore, the artist is the seller and if requested should invoice the buyer and account for any applicable VAT.