Duty Free/VAT refund

[Ahfe]

Just out of curiosity for all my friends that travel pretty often, is it possible to get VAT refund after you buy PP from Europe going back to US and vice versa? Like if you buy 5990 or 5711r for example? Or the dealer won't provide/help with forms?

[thomaspp]

Yes you can


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[Sonzy]

Yes you can, I was just asking the same question to AD in Paris and London and they confirmed receiving back the VAT, but what 6pu have to check is the % of VAT that you’ll receive as it varies from one place to another.

[tyler1980]

Yes you can... however not all AD’s are going to sell those watches to tourists. They have locals already waiting


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[AK797]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

Yes you can... however not all AD’s are going to sell those watches to tourists. They have locals already waiting


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Yes, ADs are very wary of selling to tourists unless it is a not sought after model.

[OP15]

FYI...make sure the VAT refund goes back to a credit card and not a debit card.

[tom2517]

Also the company that process VAT takes a cut, on top of it, I don’t know about Watch brands but France luxury brands each have different percentages they are willing to give back. Hermes is lowest at 10%, LV is 12%, so you are not getting as much back as you would think.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by tom2517

Also the company that process VAT takes a cut, on top of it, I don’t know about Watch brands but France luxury brands each have different percentages they are willing to give back. Hermes is lowest at 10%, LV is 12%, so you are not getting as much back as you would think.

its VAT free so the retailer isnt deciding what to refund or not. Their retail price is their retail price which has nothing to do with the tax.

You get 100% of the VAT refunded, minus the cut global blue or whatever company processes it takes which can be high. If hermes sells something for £1000 (Inclusive of a 20% VAT). They are making £800 no matter if you pay tax or not.

Or am i missing something as i have never heard of that before?

[tom2517]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

its VAT free so the retailer isnt deciding what to refund or not. Their retail price is their retail price which has nothing to do with the tax.

You get 100% of the VAT refunded, minus the cut global blue or whatever company processes it takes which can be high. If hermes sells something for £1000 (Inclusive of a 20% VAT). They are making £800 no matter if you pay tax or not.

Or am i missing something as i have never heard of that before?

That’s why I said for watch companies I don’t know and because they sell through ADs which makes it even more complicated.

You don’t get 100% of the VAT if you buy Hermes in Paris. They only gave 10% back, I know this because I have bought in Paris many times and thought I would be getting all the VAT back minus the global blue cut but nope, it’s only 10%. I was told Hermes, LV, and etc they all gave different percentages of VAT back,
with Hermes lowest at 10%. Is this even legal? Where the rest of the VAT go?

Anyways, if I was the OP I would definitely ask to make sure what exactly of the VAT that I am getting back.

[tom2517]

Here I googled and found many references that Hermes Paris only gave back 10%, again like I said, it’s strange they can do this.

[Russell996]

Originally Posted by tom2517

Here I googled and found many references that Hermes Paris only gave back 10%, again like I said, it’s strange they can do this.

I can only imagine it is a huge handling charge, they can't charge a different VAT rate from anyone else but they can charge a lot for the service they offer. Shops don't have to offer a VAT refund service.

[lapince]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

its VAT free so the retailer isnt deciding what to refund or not. Their retail price is their retail price which has nothing to do with the tax.

You get 100% of the VAT refunded, minus the cut global blue or whatever company processes it takes which can be high. If hermes sells something for £1000 (Inclusive of a 20% VAT). They are making £800 no matter if you pay tax or not.

Or am i missing something as i have never heard of that before?

There are 3 possibilities in France, either through Global Blue, and in that case you get back something like 14% on the 20% VAT, through the other one, don't remember the name, and in that case it's 10 or 12%, or there are some dealers who make you the full tax free themselves and you have to have the paperwork stamped at the airport like for the others and send them back, I know of an AP AD who does it in Paris, so 20% refund, and my Swiss AD also does it, so I get back, rather I don't pay, the 7.8%, I think it's 7.8%, not really sure

[tng11]

Hmm something doesn't sound quite right. The percentage refund companies like Global Blue or Premier take a percentage fee, which drops as the amount of the purchase goes up. On lower amounts, the % of the refund fee is much higher than large amounts. It is not a straight line scale.

If the amount is large, I ask to complete the VAT refund without having to go through an intermediary and get the full VAT back. Some shops in London will do exactly this - one credit card charge for the pre-VAT amount, and another pre-authorization for the VAT amount. They fill out the paperwork, and when they receive it back with the customs stamp, they simply void the VAT pre-authorization. I've found most boutiques in Geneva also operate in this manner, with you getting the full VAT back and not having to pay the VAT upfront.

Harrods in London also told me for purchases over a certain amount, they will hand you the watch directly at the airport provided there is sufficient advance notice, and it will be VAT free without any fees or paperwork.

Others will also just ship directly outside of the EU, VAT free... most painless process there is, as I declare my purchases in my home country anyways.

[goog53]

Global Blue are crooks! Cheated me out of 2K when I bought stuff from Cartier. Had pics of me dropping the forms in the box in the airport, had copies of my
Receipt and forms, and a pic of the damn teller at the global blue desk in Venice airport. Cartier was of no help and Global Blue said we can not do a refund without your original paperwork which they allegedly never received. RANT OVER!!! Have the AD fill out the forms like Tom says

[Russell996]

Originally Posted by goog53

Global Blue are crooks! Cheated me out of 2K when I bought stuff from Cartier. Had pics of me dropping the forms in the box in the airport, had copies of my
Receipt and forms, and a pic of the damn teller at the global blue desk in Venice airport. Cartier was of no help and Global Blue said we can not do a refund without your original paperwork which they allegedly never received. RANT OVER!!! Have the AD fill out the forms like Tom says

Looks like Global Blue charge a minimum of 9%! UK VAT is 20% Wow.

http://www.globalblue.com/destinations/uk/london/

[Ahfe]

Originally Posted by Russell996

Looks like Global Blue charge a minimum of 9%! UK VAT is 20% Wow.

http://www.globalblue.com/destinations/uk/london/

9% of total VAT refund (if 100 usd they refund 91 usd)
or 9% (if VAT is 20%, they give refund of 11%)?

[Russell996]

Originally Posted by Ahfe

9% of total VAT refund (if 100 usd they refund 91 usd)
or 9% (if VAT is 20%, they give refund of 11%)?

Forgive my schoolboy maths, removal of 20% VAT is of course only a 16.7% saving, so they are charging 5.7% or more to save a max of 11%.

[tng11]

Originally Posted by Russell996

Forgive my schoolboy maths, removal of 20% VAT is of course only a 16.7% saving, so they are charging 5.7% or more to save a max of 11%.

Again, the number they charge you is dependent on the amount.

According to their refund calculator, if you buy goods of 200 GBP, all you get back is 22.20 GBP against a VAT amount of 33.33 GBP, so their cut is almost 1/3rd of the VAT refund.

However, if you buy something for 40,800 GBP (i.e. the RRP of a 5990/1A), you'll get 6,425 GBP back from Global Blue against a VAT amount of 6,800 GBP, so their cut is 375 GBP or about 5.5% of the refunded amount.

Their cut is a much more significant percentage wise on small amounts as demonstrated in the example above.

That said, there's a few other things to consider. When they refund the VAT to your non-GBP credit card, they use a really bad exchange rate that they determine (as much as 10% less than the spot rate, which was a rude surprise I encountered once even though I was using a no-FX card) or an extra cut for a cash refund. And then there's Mike's example of them claiming they didn't get the documentation at all.

I do have a GBP debit card for them to issue refunds to - so no further pilfering of my VAT refunds, but I spend a few weeks gritting my teeth waiting for it. As I said above, I far prefer having the AD/shop complete the paperwork directly and there's little pain and no extra fees involved.

[tom2517]

Originally Posted by goog53

Global Blue are crooks! Cheated me out of 2K when I bought stuff from Cartier. Had pics of me dropping the forms in the box in the airport, had copies of my
Receipt and forms, and a pic of the damn teller at the global blue desk in Venice airport. Cartier was of no help and Global Blue said we can not do a refund without your original paperwork which they allegedly never received. RANT OVER!!! Have the AD fill out the forms like Tom says

Global Blue are crooks +1, was just in Copenhagen three months ago, bought two Hermes bag for wife, while at the airport I want Euro back but they said they ran out of Euro so gave me USD back at almost 1-1 exchange rate. Basically they took another cut with this unreasonable exchange rate.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by Ahfe

Duty Free/VAT refund
Just out of curiosity for all my friends that travel pretty often, is it possible to get VAT refund after you buy PP from Europe going back to US and vice versa? Like if you buy 5990 or 5711r for example? Or the dealer won't provide/help with forms?

While the item may be sold in a duty free location, the item and anything else purchased and being imported into the US needs to be declared upon re-entry.

Any duty due will be calculated and collected then.

[Ahfe]

This is the thing, is it better to ask for refund cash at airport or send it to global blue (credit refund), I feel the higher the refund they can always claim they never got it. Especially the tracking number never works on their site, you have to actually call them. I waited about 4 months for my refund to go back on my credit and the refund should have been 12% and they returned me like 9%
Also, can anyone confirm if the AD can discount the VAT automatically on the spot and you are still responsible for mailing the forms (one of my friends did that at high end clothing boutique). Granted if the forms are not mailed, they will charge you back the refund..

[antoine524]

I will explain you.
I am french and was living in France.
Later, I moved to Switzerland, and become resident in Geneva,
When I came in Paris, I can apply for VAT refund.
The % is different on every shops, as people said, LV is 12%, Hermes 10%.
It's like that because they use Global Blue company etc and they take fees.

I bought a Submariner in Rolex authorized shop. They use to deal directly with VAT, without work with any intermediary like Global Blue ; so with them, I was able to claim back 17% of the retail price.

Now I live in the UK.

For Patek -

I bought my 5167 in shop at beggining of July.
I was on waiting list, with my parisian home address.
When they called me to tell me the watch is here, I asked if I can change the name of the name of the buyer (will be my father, because he's still live in Switzerland). They denied because the name on waiting list was mine.
When I came to the shop to take my watch, they told me the VAT is rare because they prefer to sell to local people (I wait 3 months for my 5167 - and was told if I gave them my foreign address it will be 5 years waiting)

Regards

[Ahfe]

I wasn't sure if AD can fill in all the paperwork and handling it directly (giving the refund on the spot), when in Paris they filled in a form for me but I still had to turn it in at the airport to duty free designated area.

[tng11]

Originally Posted by Ahfe

I wasn't sure if AD can fill in all the paperwork and handling it directly (giving the refund on the spot), when in Paris they filled in a form for me but I still had to turn it in at the airport to duty free designated area.

Even if you bypass the refund services like Global Blue, the AD will still give you a form to get stamped by Customs. The only difference is, you mail it back to the retailer as opposed to the refund service.

At FP Journe in Geneva, they completed the paperwork for my in advance of my arrival and gave me a prepaid envelope to drop the form back in once I obtained the stamp at the airport. Easy and simple. They only charged the pre-VAT amount to my credit card, but just warned that they would have to backcharge me if they didn't get the stamped form.

[Hermann]

Originally Posted by Ahfe

Just out of curiosity for all my friends that travel pretty often, is it possible to get VAT refund after you buy PP from Europe going back to US and vice versa? Like if you buy 5990 or 5711r for example? Or the dealer won't provide/help with forms?

In Austria no tourist will get a Nautilus or Aquanaut for example.
Why you don’t buy in your country so will get a better customer from your town AD, so you can also get limited pieces easy.
And you get also after some watches good estate

Sorry but...

wrong thread !!

[Kittayos]

Buy Patek at a family owned boutique and they will do the full VAT refund for you without going through crappy global blue or premier tax. I used to do this in Spain and Germany. Got full 21% back on my Patek. Not 1 cent less. If done by global blue, you run on 2 risks. First, you will get at max. 14-15%. Second, you wait for 3-4 weeks tilll they credit back to your card and no guarantee you will 100% get it. Can only wish they receice all your papers with a customs stamp. Otherwise, you are doomed but I can imagine they receive an enormous pile of envelopes per month. No way they can refund every single one of them.

[tom2517]

Originally Posted by Kittayos

Buy Patek at a family owned boutique and they will do the full VAT refund for you without going through crappy global blue or premier tax. I used to do this in Spain and Germany. Got full 21% back on my Patek. Not 1 cent less. If done by global blue, you run on 2 risks. First, you will get at max. 14-15%. Second, you wait for 3-4 weeks tilll they credit back to your card and no guarantee you will 100% get it. Can only wish they receice all your papers with a customs stamp. Otherwise, you are doomed but I can imagine they receive an enormous pile of envelopes per month. No way they can refund every single one of them.

True, that’s why when I have to go through global blue I always take cash back instead of waiting for credit card refund.

[SW1]

Fill in VAT 407...get stamped at airport and post ut back to retauker tbrough letter bix next ti customs. No 8 week wait not GB rip off

[kultschar]

Remember this won't apply to 99% grey dealers

Good luck with a AD if it is a Nautilus or Aqua :)

[JR16]

Bought a Lange from Germany and came back to the US. Got the stamp at the Frankfurt airport and mailed paperwork to AD from the US. AD then refunds full 19% VAT back on credit card used to purchase the watch. No global blue .


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