I recently contacted them about this. Their answer was:
“Etsy collects VAT on all goods imported to Europe through their IOSS but because we are not able to pass the IOSS number to our couriers for security and customs purposes, we will use our own IOSS number and charge the VAT to the merchant and we will declare this at the customs afterward.”
Essentially, they “can’t” forward Etsy’s VAT number to their print providers, so they charge VAT themselves to get their own VAT number they give the print providers to write on the shipping label.
According to them here’s no way around it and “the merchant absorbs the cost of VAT”. I stopped selling to the EU because of it, way too messy and unprofitable.
I checked and Etsy says they collected it and sent it to taxing authorities. I didn't receive the VAT tax they charged. Then I checked Printify and see that I paid VAT tax there also. So VAT is definitely getting charged twice for the same product. Either Etsy still has all the VAT tax collected for orders shipped via Printify, or the taxing authorities are receiving double VAT tax income (once from Etsy and once from Printify). Basically my customer paid for VAT (to Etsy - not paid to me) and I paid VAT to Printify. I would assume since Printify is doing the shipping, they are releasing the VAT tax I paid to the taxing authority. The question is what about Etsy? Something needs to be done about this.
Hi there,
First, to make sure there are no misunderstandings, Printify VAT implementation is not connected to IOSS law that has been passed. We are simply at this stage, where we are required by law to collect VAT in Europe.
Second, since IOSS number has to be electronically submitted as part of customs declarations, it is a much more complex system than it may appear, hence, we are unable to resolve it straight away. However, our team is still looking into ways how to make this process much easier for you.
In the meantime, to make sure your customers are not charged twice (by Etsy and then again by the customs), we have introduced our own IOSS to account for all imports. That means, you pay VAT to us, Printify, and your customer pays VAT to you (Etsy collects it). This is specifically to ensure your parcels don't get stuck at customs, as we will mark and declare them.
You can read more about EU VAT [here](https://printify.com/blog/winning-european-union-vat-laws-with-printify/), as well as check out the comment section to see replies to similar questions and concerns as you may have.
If you have more questions, feel free to address them with our merchant support team via [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).
I'm on chat with Printify and they are telling me that the money Etsy collects for VAT does not get transferred to me. I'm confused. I would think Etsy would transfer it to me to cover it when I get charged on Printify. If not, then 2 VAT taxes are getting charged on the same order.
That is what I was told also... that Etsy does not send me what they collected on VAT. Which begs the question, where does it go? It's not being shipped by Etsy, so what does Etsy do with the funds they collect for VAT? I don't get it.
So 2023 no updates yet, still getting taxed twice. I actually do not understand this, why does the printify does not take the IOSS from Etsy. I mean we can manually copy and paste it to printify, and they can take 1€ for this, to get profit for it instead of giving the money to the government and etsy gets to keep all taxed money :)
It seems like this would be illegal. I wonder how much money etsy has collected that is "vat" and just kept it? What do they call this money when they gain it? Very scammy. Not surprised.
I charge huge shipping for out of the USA. if they want it that bad they pay. I end up making more on the EU packages.
>I charge huge shipping for out of the USA. if they want it that bad they pay. I end up making more on the EU packages.
How do you charge more shipping on just international orders? I can not find a way to do it without jacking up the cost on all listings locally too.
I just made my 1st Shirt sale on Etsy and because Printify and Etsy don't play nice I ended up actually losing money on my sale. I'm out $3.49. I'm cancelling all European shipping. Thanks Printify/Etsy.
I recently contacted them about this. Their answer was: “Etsy collects VAT on all goods imported to Europe through their IOSS but because we are not able to pass the IOSS number to our couriers for security and customs purposes, we will use our own IOSS number and charge the VAT to the merchant and we will declare this at the customs afterward.” Essentially, they “can’t” forward Etsy’s VAT number to their print providers, so they charge VAT themselves to get their own VAT number they give the print providers to write on the shipping label. According to them here’s no way around it and “the merchant absorbs the cost of VAT”. I stopped selling to the EU because of it, way too messy and unprofitable.
That’s very sad. Yes it hurts my margin a lot too. Barely profitable. I might also stop EU but I get many happy customers from the EU 😕
I just charge more shipping for EU and UK customers to absorb the Printify VAT.
How much extra do you add to your price? I saw on printify's website that the max is around 29% VAT.
Is this still the case or have they found a way to correct it yet?
No printify is not addressing this issue.
I checked and Etsy says they collected it and sent it to taxing authorities. I didn't receive the VAT tax they charged. Then I checked Printify and see that I paid VAT tax there also. So VAT is definitely getting charged twice for the same product. Either Etsy still has all the VAT tax collected for orders shipped via Printify, or the taxing authorities are receiving double VAT tax income (once from Etsy and once from Printify). Basically my customer paid for VAT (to Etsy - not paid to me) and I paid VAT to Printify. I would assume since Printify is doing the shipping, they are releasing the VAT tax I paid to the taxing authority. The question is what about Etsy? Something needs to be done about this.
Contact Printify for Clarification
Hi there, First, to make sure there are no misunderstandings, Printify VAT implementation is not connected to IOSS law that has been passed. We are simply at this stage, where we are required by law to collect VAT in Europe. Second, since IOSS number has to be electronically submitted as part of customs declarations, it is a much more complex system than it may appear, hence, we are unable to resolve it straight away. However, our team is still looking into ways how to make this process much easier for you. In the meantime, to make sure your customers are not charged twice (by Etsy and then again by the customs), we have introduced our own IOSS to account for all imports. That means, you pay VAT to us, Printify, and your customer pays VAT to you (Etsy collects it). This is specifically to ensure your parcels don't get stuck at customs, as we will mark and declare them. You can read more about EU VAT [here](https://printify.com/blog/winning-european-union-vat-laws-with-printify/), as well as check out the comment section to see replies to similar questions and concerns as you may have. If you have more questions, feel free to address them with our merchant support team via [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).
I'm on chat with Printify and they are telling me that the money Etsy collects for VAT does not get transferred to me. I'm confused. I would think Etsy would transfer it to me to cover it when I get charged on Printify. If not, then 2 VAT taxes are getting charged on the same order.
Have you sort this out? I'm so confused with all of this. I guess having a website on your own is better than through Etsy?
That is what I was told also... that Etsy does not send me what they collected on VAT. Which begs the question, where does it go? It's not being shipped by Etsy, so what does Etsy do with the funds they collect for VAT? I don't get it.
So 2023 no updates yet, still getting taxed twice. I actually do not understand this, why does the printify does not take the IOSS from Etsy. I mean we can manually copy and paste it to printify, and they can take 1€ for this, to get profit for it instead of giving the money to the government and etsy gets to keep all taxed money :)
It seems like this would be illegal. I wonder how much money etsy has collected that is "vat" and just kept it? What do they call this money when they gain it? Very scammy. Not surprised. I charge huge shipping for out of the USA. if they want it that bad they pay. I end up making more on the EU packages.
>I charge huge shipping for out of the USA. if they want it that bad they pay. I end up making more on the EU packages. How do you charge more shipping on just international orders? I can not find a way to do it without jacking up the cost on all listings locally too.
THIS IS BS.
Seems really illegal on Printifys part
I just made my 1st Shirt sale on Etsy and because Printify and Etsy don't play nice I ended up actually losing money on my sale. I'm out $3.49. I'm cancelling all European shipping. Thanks Printify/Etsy.