Hey guys wondering if anyone can help me with shopping online in Switzerland! I am here for a month and there are heaps of items online that can only be sent within Europe, so a whole new world has opened up to this Aussie. HOWEVER I'm pretty sure Switzerland has some crazy low thresholds for importing goods and I really don't want to be paying duties/VAT/whatever on items that I'm going to be taking back out of the country anyway. (For the record, we're talking clothes, shoes (anyone know any anniel stockists I can visit if I can't buy online?) and perfrume (Jo Malone is MUCH cheaper here and in Italy). So. Any advice? Should I try avoid online shopping and find the brick and mortar items? Should I get things sent to France and pop over to pick them up? Should I create a new thread for this quite specific question?
Tips/Advice for customs, VAT, etc.
- Thread starter mercx5
- Start date
naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa better order them while beeing in Europe. Switzerland does not belong to Europe once it comes to importing goods. France as delivery place means: all duties, taxes and customer fees are allready paid then and you have to pay what is displayed on the website. Switzerland - a whole other story... France is easiere, believe me.
Hi everyone! I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right place so apologies if it's not. I want to purchase an item in Australia via email (I'm in the US-NY). I know that in the UK they can remove the VAT before charging you, so I was just wondering if they can do the same with the GST in Australia? I've tried to do a little research and I've found that if you buy the item in the Australia and leave the country they will give you the GST back (as long as it is over $1000, which my purchase would be) but I can't find anything regarding online purchases. The retailer that I'm currently dealing with said someone told him no, but he didn't say it with much confidence. Any help would be appreciated!!
Hi all!
So on our way into Poland, a friend and I purchased two items at the longchamp store in Paris. Leaving Poland a month later, she went through the VAT forms and filled them out to get the VAT refund.
It has now been six weeks and still no refund.
Anyone know how long this should take?
So on our way into Poland, a friend and I purchased two items at the longchamp store in Paris. Leaving Poland a month later, she went through the VAT forms and filled them out to get the VAT refund.
It has now been six weeks and still no refund.
Anyone know how long this should take?
Did she get it stamped? If she didn't get it stamped than she won't get a refund.
Hi everyone! It was my first time to buy some items in Europe and I just want to confirm if I did the VAT refund process correctly. When I bought the items from Chanel and Balenciaga, they asked whether I wanted the refund back in cash or credit. I replied credit and they gave me a form that had a bar code on it. I took these forms to the airport in France and just scanned them in one of those machines and a green check mark came out. I then proceeded to mail the forms in the provided mail box nearby. Just want to make sure that this is all I had to do because from backreading a few pages on this thread, some members where mentioning a stamp on the form. Also, if I did it incorrectly, does anyone have tips on how to resolve it? I took pictures of the forms before mailing them. Would appreciate if anyone can help 
Many thanks!
Many thanks!
Hi! Looking for some answers re: shopping in Heathrow airport.
1. Duty free= no VAT??? So if you shop in HR, do you have to file a VAT refund? Or is that all included at the point of sale?
2. Upon arrival back in the US, you have to claim your purchases at customs? And they charge you tax/fee on purchases over $800?
Thanks so much for your help!
1. Duty free= no VAT??? So if you shop in HR, do you have to file a VAT refund? Or is that all included at the point of sale?
2. Upon arrival back in the US, you have to claim your purchases at customs? And they charge you tax/fee on purchases over $800?
Thanks so much for your help!
Yes, I have this same question! And are the taxes that you get charged in the US usually about equal/more than/less than what you've been refunded from VAT? At what point are you charged and need to pay these taxes?
Hi everyone! It was my first time to buy some items in Europe and I just want to confirm if I did the VAT refund process correctly. When I bought the items from Chanel and Balenciaga, they asked whether I wanted the refund back in cash or credit. I replied credit and they gave me a form that had a bar code on it. I took these forms to the airport in France and just scanned them in one of those machines and a green check mark came out. I then proceeded to mail the forms in the provided mail box nearby. Just want to make sure that this is all I had to do because from backreading a few pages on this thread, some members where mentioning a stamp on the form. Also, if I did it incorrectly, does anyone have tips on how to resolve it? I took pictures of the forms before mailing them. Would appreciate if anyone can help
Did you buy these items in France or in another country? I think that you are OK if the items were bought in France. The last time I was at CDG, I did not need to get a customs stamp for items that were purchased in France. There was a customs agent that took a look at my forms and he had me scan the ones for items purchased in France. For items purchased in other EU countries, I had to get in line and get a customs stamp as those forms were different.
If you shop at Heathrow, it is duty and VAT free so no forms to fill out! That's the lovely part about shopping there. The prices are also lower since there are no processing fees that need to be paid to the intermediary agents like Global Blue or Premier. So, for example, a Chanel classic WOC goes for 1220 British pounds at Heathrow. That same WOC will be 1470 British pounds with an approximate 13% VAT refund at a Chanel boutique in the city which works out to be about 1275 British pounds net cost. So, you save roughly 50 - 55 pounds by shopping at Heathrow. However, you do take the chance that the items you are looking for won't be in stock at Heathrow on the day you happen to be passing through.
When you arrive back in the U.S., you will be asked whether you purchased goods worth more than $800 while abroad. In some airports, the question is asked at a little electronic kiosk where you have to indicate "YES" or "NO" to that question and a couple of other questions. In other airports, it might be a hand written form that you fill out. (I think all airports are eventually going to the kiosks so that your answers are recorded.) After answering those questions, a receipt is issued by the kiosk that you take with you to Passport Control and then on to the luggage carousels. After picking up your luggage, you take that receipt, your luggage and your passport to the Customs agent who is the last stop before you are released back into the country. They take a look at the receipt and your passport one more time. Sometimes, even when you answered "yes" to the question of whether you purchased $800 or more abroad, they just waive you through. Other times, the agents will ask more detailed questions and will send you to another agent who will examine your receipts and calculate how much you owe and process your payment. Sometimes, they pull people out of line who answered "no" to the question and search every bit of their luggage. (I've seen it happen.)
Generally, the first $800 is tax free. The next $1,000 is taxed at 3%. For handbags, amounts over $1,800 are taxed at 6%. (Other goods have different tax rates so it can get complicated. By the way, there is no tax on food items.) This limit applies per person and you can combine these amounts for all the people in your traveling party. So, if you are traveling with your DH or SO or your mother or whoever, you can combine these amounts. So, for two people, the first $1,600 is tax free, the next $2,000 is taxed at 3%, and everything over $3,600 would be at 6%.
My experience has been that if you are honest, they treat you extremely well. When I have purchased more than $800 worth of stuff, I have always declared it and they have never searched my luggage. They take your word for what you have purchased abroad and calculate the duty based on that. A couple of times, they've waved me through and I paid nothing even though I did exceed the limits. The last time (just about a week ago) was hilarious. I was fully prepared to pay several hundred dollars in customs tax/duties when returning to the U.S. I did a lot of shopping for Christmas, for friends, for myself while in London. I declared at the kiosk that I had purchased more than $800 worth of items. At the last stop, the Customs Agent asked me "what did I purchase?". Well. I told him that I bought biscuits and tea and chocolate and re-usable bags from Fortnum & Masons and Harry Potter souvenirs for my neices and nephews and, oh, there was a . . . and he interrupts me and says "Welcome Home!" He never let me get to the Louis Vuitton and Chanel handbags in their original boxes. I stood there for a second and the DH grabs my arm and says "thanks, great to be home!" So, no customs tax charged.
Thanks, youngster
yes, I bought the bags in France so I'm hoping that everything goes smoothly with the refund. Btw, the SAs in the stores (Chanel and Balenciaga) asked whether I wanted my refund in cash or credit. I replied credit, so I'm assuming that they filled out the form with the barcode with my credit card details on it.
Thanks, youngster
Btw, the SAs in the stores (Chanel and Balenciaga) asked whether I wanted my refund in cash or credit. I replied credit, so I'm assuming that they filled out the form with the barcode with my credit card details on it.
Did you check the forms to make sure the details (credit card #, address, etc.) are all correct? If you have pics of the forms, you might review them for accuracy. The only time I had trouble with a credit card refund was when one digit was off on my home address. The refund never processed and I've never been able to get that money. All calls and emails to Global Blue only led to frustration. It was a small amount thank goodness but, since then, I take my refund immediately in cash at the airport in the local currency.