VAT Refund or not

[Bing o]

Bit of background. I am a non-dom (non-EU also) for tax purposes, spending maybe 3 weeks a year in the UK for business and pleasure. On my last visit, I treated myself to a DSLR camera from a well known high street retailer who specialises in these things. I explained about 4 times where I was from, and that I intended on claiming back the VAT at my point of exit (the charmingly rustic Heathrow T3, twinned with Bhasra).

Not having done this before, I kept the receipt, and took it to the Travelex counter at said sthole. The gentleman at the counter explained that the high street retailer who specialises in these things should have given me a reclaim form. Which they hadn't.

So now I'm down 157 sheets on what I was expecting to get back. As luck would have it, I will be back in the UK at the end of this month and will be in a position to revisit said high street retailer. Can I still get my VAT refunded if I have left the country and returned with said goods? Or do I have to try and apply for this retrospectively? Or am I just fked?

(I fully admit that I should have checked the details more thoroughly, but I thought that providing the goods and VAT receipt was enough - caveat emptor when it comes to buying stuff after a 14 hour flight....)

Thanks in advance...

[Mr Pointy]

This page tells you all about it:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/sectors/consumers/overs...

It seems you need to purchase from a shop that's in the VAT Retail Export Scheme so that could be the first problem if the shop you chose wasn't.

[Bing o]

Mr Pointy said:

This page tells you all about it:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/sectors/consumers/overs...

It seems you need to purchase from a shop that's in the VAT Retail Export Scheme so that could be the first problem if the shop you chose wasn't.

Thanks for the link. The company I bought the Camera from are part of the scheme, so I can go back to the shop and get them to fill in the VAT 407 form, as I have 3 months apparently. My problem is, I have a UK passport, so not sure how I prove UK non-tax residency (I can show them my work pass I guess) or am I better off getting my non-EU girlfriend to fill in the form (although my name is on the receipt)?