Duty | Tax | Customs for International shopping {VAT refund}

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#676
ak3 said:
Me too from Italy seems to be the problem :(
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I emailed them and they said they cannot find my forms :nogood:


Premiere Tax has disappointed me once again. A year ago, I got cash refund at department store office, and have mailed the stamped form accordingly before I left EU. Then I was shocked to see they have charged me on my credit card a couple of months later. Apparently, at that time (even though already few months since I left EU) they have not processed my form yet, hence, penalty my card (as I have cash at department store detax office). Eventually have to email them with a copy of my detax form for follow up. Eventually, got the refund back but lost out badly on the rate!


Personally I prefer Global Blue, it's much more efficient and organised.


Fingers crossed for you and me.
 
#678
sugaryblue said:
It's been 2 months now and I am still waiting for my refund... :(
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i love louie said:
Don't worry girl ! Mine took 3 months[emoji3] hang in there
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ak3 said:
Me too from Italy seems to be the problem :(
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It took me 6 weeks to get my VAT refund by credit card for Chanel Italy. I had to opt for credit card refund as Travelex at Paris CDG doubted the validity of my refund form and thus refused me cash refund.

Apparently the refund was done by the local Premier Tax in my country using an exchange rate decided by Premier Tax. I guess this had somehow slowed down the refund process.
 
#679
I got my refund (Italy -rome) in 10days for global blue forms. For my premier tax refunds, I sent an inquiry to Premier tax and they emailed back saying my refund was processed. In my personal experience, exchange rate for premier tax is better than global blue. I think after waiting 2 weeks submitting online enquiry regarding the refund helps, I think they pull out your form and process them right away when you do this. I did the same thing when I had refunds pending after submitting them in Paris through Pablo. There was one form that I didn't submit a request for and didn't get a refund even after 3months. At that point I submitted a refund enquiry(this was global blue) and they replied back saying it was processed and apologized for the delay.
 
#680
bagreedy said:
I got my refund (Italy -rome) in 10days for global blue forms and I then sent an inquiry to Premier tax and they emailed back saying my refund was processed. In my personal experience, exchange rate for premier tax is better than global blue. I think after waiting 2 weeks submitting online enquiry regarding the refund helps. I think they pull out your form and process it right away when you do this.
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I think exchange rate comparison can only be done if the refund was done on the same day since exchange rate can fluctuate quite significantly in a short span of time.

For Premier Tax , I have emailed them while waiting anxiously for the refund after the incident at Travelex, Premier Tax was prompt in replying but informed that they will only check on the status of the refund after the minimum period for refund to be processed has passed, i.e., 6 - 8 weeks.
 
#681
tutorgrrl said:
Hi,

I posted this in another related thread about the VAT tax refund but I haven't had anyone reply yet. Anyway, I've been going through this forum to learn about the VAT tax refund and I'm still a little confused. I will be going to London then Paris, then heading home from Paris at CDG to Canada.

Here are the details I need clarification/advice on:

1) If I purchase an item in London, do I ask for the VAT refund form there but have it processed when I leave Paris at CDG?

2) Since I will be making some hefty purchases (probably small wallet items from Chanel and LV), I will most likely be over my limit in the amount of goods I can bring back to Canada. I read that some people wore their bags, as if they bought it prior to the trip, when they went through customs to not declare. But I was wondering how this would work. Is the VAT refund counter before security check or after? Also, It's been a while since I've flown so I'm not sure when Canadian customs asks you about the goods you're bringing in, so I don't know how people have made it look like they've purchased the items before their trip.

3) And if I am declaring an item and I am over my limit, would I pay the difference that I went over in duties and taxes, or duties and taxes for each item? For example, the amount I can bring back is $800. If I brought back $1000, do I pay duties and taxes on the $200 or for each item I brought back?


Thanks!
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Canada customs will ask you what you are bringing back before you collect your checked bag. Advisable to declare everything - consequences are great if you don't and are caught.
 
#682
sugaryblue said:
I emailed them and they said they cannot find my forms :nogood:


Premiere Tax has disappointed me once again. A year ago, I got cash refund at department store office, and have mailed the stamped form accordingly before I left EU. Then I was shocked to see they have charged me on my credit card a couple of months later. Apparently, at that time (even though already few months since I left EU) they have not processed my form yet, hence, penalty my card (as I have cash at department store detax office). Eventually have to email them with a copy of my detax form for follow up. Eventually, got the refund back but lost out badly on the rate!


Personally I prefer Global Blue, it's much more efficient and organised.


Fingers crossed for you and me.
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I am still waiting for my VAT refund and I've been waiting since early March. I always call them the wrong time since it's like six hours ahead there. I purchased the items in France and left from London so I don't know which office to call. I emailed them and they just said I'll get a response in a few days which never happened. Can you even choose which tax refund to do? They just gave me the premier tax one in Chanel. I'm getting kind of hopeless.
 
#683
Mumof2mOnstErs said:
I think exchange rate comparison can only be done if the refund was done on the same day since exchange rate can fluctuate quite significantly in a short span of time.

For Premier Tax , I have emailed them while waiting anxiously for the refund after the incident at Travelex, Premier Tax was prompt in replying but informed that they will only check on the status of the refund after the minimum period for refund to be processed has passed, i.e., 6 - 8 weeks.
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My refund for Global blue and Premier tax came within the same week and in fact, premier tax came through when the Euro was lower and it was atleast 10% higher than Global blue exchange rate.

Hmm ok. I guess each individual experience is different. I Dropped mine in the dropbox at Rome airport on May 7th and put in a online request regarding the refund 10 days later. The refund came though on 18th May.
 
#684
bagreedy said:
My refund for Global blue and Premier tax came within the same week and in fact, premier tax came through when the Euro was lower and it was atleast 10% higher than Global blue exchange rate.



Hmm ok. I guess each individual experience is different. I Dropped mine in the dropbox at Rome airport on May 7th and put in a online request regarding the refund 10 days later. The refund came though on 18th May.
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I did my premier blue refund at the Rome Airport also. But I processed it through the counter and I received my refund within a week. Very surprised. I guess the lady immediately process the refund to my credit card.
 
#685
Just got our refunds, took 3 weeks. I've got a question though: does anyone know how credit cards decide the exchange rate? The purchase and return all happened in a span of x3 weeks, during which the euro has essentially been between 1.08-1.14. When we purchased, conversion rate was 1.12. But for the return, the conversation rate was 1.05! I haven’t seen the euro get that low in the past month: http://fx-rate.net/EUR/USD/. So I’m really confused why the rate is so low, is there a credit card charge I’m unaware of or something?

Does anyone know/have experience w/ credit card vs cash? Based on my calculations, it still seems like you do better w/ a credit card return (even if the exchange changes from 1.12 to 1.05) but I’ve never done cash return so I could be wrong. Sorry, finance is not my strong suit. TIA!
 
#686
ryland345 said:
Just got our refunds, took 3 weeks. I've got a question though: does anyone know how credit cards decide the exchange rate? The purchase and return all happened in a span of x3 weeks, during which the euro has essentially been between 1.08-1.14. When we purchased, conversion rate was 1.12. But for the return, the conversation rate was 1.05! I haven’t seen the euro get that low in the past month: http://fx-rate.net/EUR/USD/. So I’m really confused why the rate is so low, is there a credit card charge I’m unaware of or something?

Does anyone know/have experience w/ credit card vs cash? Based on my calculations, it still seems like you do better w/ a credit card return (even if the exchange changes from 1.12 to 1.05) but I’ve never done cash return so I could be wrong. Sorry, finance is not my strong suit. TIA!
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Credit card generally has an admin fee embedded in the amount converted to your home currency. A charge or refund of the same amount processed from foreign currncy to your home currency on the same day will also be a different amount.

For Premier Tax refund, I noted that they actually used their own rate which is worse than what credit card refund in EUR will have given me. In my case, the refund was processed in my country's office although my purchase was in Rome and my refund form was submitted in Paris. As it was processed in my country's office, I was spared from further deduction by the credit card for getting refund in my home currency from an overseas base.

I personally always prefer cash even though Paris shops generally take a further 10% cut off the refund and Travelex collect a commission per refund form. At least I am guaranteed a refund and I can always change the money when EUR is stronger or use it on my next trip.
 
#687
Thanks fir the info,could you please explain me the role of customs.
As in if i buy a chanel bag and claimed vat at the airport and got so and so amount.
Now when i land in my home country do i have to pay something extra to the customs?
 
#688
Lvlover21994 said:
Thanks fir the info,could you please explain me the role of customs.

As in if i buy a chanel bag and claimed vat at the airport and got so and so amount.

Now when i land in my home country do i have to pay something extra to the customs?
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You should always declare the full amount that you bring in, you never know when you'll be stopped and search and if you lie to customs you'll be blacklisted for sure.

It depends on the guy that picks up your customs declaration form (luck essentially). I'm from the US, I've made several shopping sprees in Paris and had to pay once so far. They say the limit without being taxed is $800 per person, but the two times that I wasn't taxed, I declared $12,000 and $15,000 on my customs form and the guy let me pass. The time I did get taxed, I was only bringing back $8,000 and they charged me 3% of the price minus the $800 that I was allowed to bring in.
 
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