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UK Refund of VAT for non-residents?
Originally posted by David Horne Miles wrote: David Horne wrote: VAT is 17.5%. It's not difficult really, but there a few rules, and you want to read them in _advance_ of making a purchase. The following government website is IMO quite clear, and will give you current information. http://www.hmce.gov.uk/public/vatrefunds/vatrefunds.ht- mhttp://www.hmce.gov.uk/public/vatrefunds/vatrefunds.htm- Thanks David, very informative sight. It does mention possible charges made by some retailers when asking for a VAT reclaim document. Is this very common? I think you'd have to wait for others to respond. I'm a UK citizen, and even while living in the US for over a decade, couldn't claim the refund. My suspicion is that the charges are a rip-off, but I'd also point out that the "VAT-free" shops tend to be on the pricey side. I suppose what I'm saying is this- unless you buy a very expensive item only available at a very set price- I'm not sure if there's a point in going the VAT-refund route. But, as I said, better to get reponses from people who've actually gotten the refund. David -- David Horne- (website under reconstruction) davidhorne (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk I am a UK citizen resident in Australia and managed to get my refunds without isue. -- Posted via http://britishexpats.com |
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UK Refund of VAT for non-residents?
On Tue, 06 Jan 2004 21:35:39 +0000, bondipom
wrote: When you get the goods you ask for the Tourist VAT Refund form and they will fill out part of it and get you to fill in the rest. When you leave the EU show the form to customs (there will be an office in some invonvenient part of the airport) and they will stamp it. Customs will sometimes want to see the goods. Send the form to the refund company and they will give you the money. Refunds can be credited to your credit card, be sent by cheque or you can pick up the cash at some bureaux de changes. When I left Edinburgh, I carefully placed the items for VAT refund at the top of my bag. At EDI, the counter was unstaffed, with just a dropbox for the forms. |
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UK Refund of VAT for non-residents?
"Miles" wrote
| David Horne wrote: | VAT is 17.5%. It's not difficult really, but there a few rules, | and you want to read them in _advance_ of making a purchase. | The following government website is IMO quite clear, and will | give you current information. | http://www.hmce.gov.uk/public/vatrefunds/vatrefunds.htm | The biggest single expenditure will be our hotel. Other items add up | quickly though such as show tickets and restaurant tabs. None of those will be VAT reclaimable. You can only reclaim VAT on goods exported out of the EU. Services consumed within the EU are non-reclaimable. Owain |
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UK Refund of VAT for non-residents?
milesh with the help of 999 monkeys
eventually managed to type: What is the process and how difficult is it for a traveler to England to obtain a refund for any VAT paid? I have been told this is possible but am not sure how to go about doing this. I suppose it will depend on just how much is spent while visiting in deciding whether it is worth doing. What is the VAT % in England? The tax is 17.5%, almost always included in the stated price of what you purchase. Two points to be aware of: (1) VAT refund can be claimed only for items that are exported from the country. Since you can't export a hotel stay or a restaurant meal, those expenses cannot be claimed. (2) There is a large-ish minimum purchase amount in order to claim VAT refund -- something like £75 if memory serves. My recollection is that purchases at different establishments cannot be combined to reach this minimum. For the above reasons, in all my trips to the UK I've never once claimed a VAT refund. -- A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on, but what was the truth doing with no pants on in the first place? --Winston Churchill |
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UK Refund of VAT for non-residents?
The tax is 17.5%, almost always included in the stated price of what
you purchase. Two points to be aware of: (1) VAT refund can be claimed only for items that are exported from the country. Since you can't export a hotel stay or a restaurant meal, those expenses cannot be claimed. (2) There is a large-ish minimum purchase amount in order to claim VAT refund -- something like £75 if memory serves. My recollection is that purchases at different establishments cannot be combined to reach this minimum. I wish to add to the above post. Although purchases at different establishments cannot be combined, you can do so if these establishments actually come under the same group, as far as VAT is concerned. For example, some clothing chain stores are under different trade names but are part of a group. Similarly, if you buy from two different shops of the same chain, e.g. from Marks and Spencer in London, and again in say, Manchester, you can ask the second store to combine your purchases to make up the grand total, as long as you also do your VAT paperworks in the first store. When you get to the airport, I would advise you to claim your VAT at the Custom counter before checking in you luggage, in case the officers want to see the items you bought. This never happened to me, they only asked if I had the items with me. However, it is their right to ask you to show your shopping before approving your claim. I am a temporary UK resident at the moment and can no longer claim VAT, so I do not know if they have become more stringent or more lenient. BH |
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UK Refund of VAT for non-residents?
On Tue, 06 Jan 2004 12:14:38 -0700, Miles wrote:
David Horne wrote: VAT is 17.5%. It's not difficult really, but there a few rules, and you want to read them in _advance_ of making a purchase. The following government website is IMO quite clear, and will give you current information. Oh, that reminds me. The site you gave indicates I must bring purchases to customs for inspection. This would imply that the refund is only for tangible goods and not services such as hotel, restaurant etc.? Is this corrent? It states quite clearly here : (para4 ) http://www.hmce.gov.uk/forms/graphics/704-1.pdf that you can only claim on GOODS, and not on services or other bills such as hotels. And then only unused goods you take out yourself, ie, not in freight. If you use it, or consume it you can't claim. -- Tim. If the human brain were simple enough that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn't. |
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