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

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.

"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

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

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

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.