Reclaiming VAT on exported goods
Discussion
you wont be able to get the UK vat back unless you have a Swiss visa. A buy a few things each year in the UK when on holiday and then take out of the EU, you pay the VAT at the point of sale, and then claim the rebate at the point of exit from the UK, but they want proof that you normally reside overseas, I have no issue to prove this as I have resident rights in Asia, but my wife can't reclaim the VAT, she has an Indonesian passport with a British resident visa, and the customs at export wont stamp the form as she may reimport the goods. (otherwise you could buy thing take them to Spain on holiday and bring them back).You need to tell the retailer that you intend to export at the time of purchase. Debenams system were they recognize a foreign credit card and automatically print out the required forms. After the forma are stamped you return them and the retailer refunds the tax to you.
The retailer has to be registered for the scheme, some places aren't registered as they don't get enough foreign customers, if I remember right B and Q aren't registered and you just have to pay the VAT,
Or you can get the retailer to export for you, then the point of supply is Switzerland and there is no VAT, but you pay carriage.
This is worth while in many cases. I buy a fair bit from Paul Matty Sports Cars, I get them to post to me overseas, no VAT, I keep each order around 120 pounds and the customs don't bother on import. Postage on each order is then around 15 pounds so I save around 30 pounds on VAT pay 15 in postage and get the bitsin Asia delivered for less than I could buy for in their shop if I lived in the UK>
The retailer has to be registered for the scheme, some places aren't registered as they don't get enough foreign customers, if I remember right B and Q aren't registered and you just have to pay the VAT,
Or you can get the retailer to export for you, then the point of supply is Switzerland and there is no VAT, but you pay carriage.
This is worth while in many cases. I buy a fair bit from Paul Matty Sports Cars, I get them to post to me overseas, no VAT, I keep each order around 120 pounds and the customs don't bother on import. Postage on each order is then around 15 pounds so I save around 30 pounds on VAT pay 15 in postage and get the bitsin Asia delivered for less than I could buy for in their shop if I lived in the UK>
To not charge it, either the retailer or his agent ( Post office, FedEx etc must do the export) to reclaim the retailer will need to be registered in the VAT refund scheme, and on export you will need to show the goods to customs, need to demonstrate that it is a permanent export.
As I say they normally want proof you reside overseas, to accept as permanent.
As I say they normally want proof you reside overseas, to accept as permanent.
Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff