What is VAT tax?

Question

my brother ordered something on ebay and the seller now sells i may need to pay VAX tax, what is it? how much would it cost him? he paid $270 for the item $320 with postage and postage insurance, and its coming from hong kong to australia how much will it be?

Answer 1

VAT is Value Added Tax.  Since the shipment is coming from Hong Kong, he won't pay the Hong Kong VAT but will pay the Australian VAT at the applicable rate.  Aussie Customs will collect the VAT (and any other duties, taxes and fees) before the shipment can be released by Customs.

Answer 2

VAT is value added tax, in the UK its 17.5% but if I bought somthing on ebay from another country I should not pay VAT to seller only to customs if the item is stopped

Answer 3

VAT tax is what Europeans (and, it would appear, Hong Kong) call sales tax.