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

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#1,066
LouboutinNewbie said:
Calculation: (Price -800 -1000)* 4.5% + (1% of 1000)

I was told the 4.5% could have been 9%.
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Thank you so much! With the exchange rate plus the price equalization of chanel and custom fees i might focus my future travel purchases to other brands where the euro price is still advantageous! I mean im all about helping the economy but the cut is getting deep and it’s not worth the trouble for the hassle of carrying etc unless it’s a unique piece that I love and can’t locate here in which case the price/duty is less relevant :thinkin:
 
#1,067
choco30 said:
I will be in Paris next week but I will be returning to Canada from Amsterdam. Will I need to get the customs stamp when I leave Amsterdam? Thanks!
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I’ll be doing the same thing in August!
How was your experience in Amsterdam? Was it an easy process to get the stamp? Is there any drop boxes to mail it back?
 
#1,068
ahhgoo said:
I’ll be doing the same thing in August!
How was your experience in Amsterdam? Was it an easy process to get the stamp? Is there any drop boxes to mail it back?
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I was just came back from Ams yesterday. So I think I can answer your question. The process is easy but the line can be quite long. It was my second time processing vat refund in Amsterdam schipol airport and both times were the same situation. The custom is at Departure 3 (in front of check in 29). Before you check in, do your vat refund first. They will only check your ticket not your boarding pass. Bring your stuff with you to the counter, they do random check. Once done, you can queue again on the Global blue counter next to it (not for other companies. FYI, Chanel use premier tax free not global blue) or you can just mail it on the drop box there. It was the Global blue counter that always has long queue. The custom queue was only less than 10 people both of my experiences. So mailing the form will be the best option. At Chanel, they made me decide on the store whether I want a cash or credit card (cannot decide later or in the airport). SA suggested cash but I think I made the right decision by choosing CC refund considering the long queue. Spare 1 hour to get it done or even 2 hours if you plan to get it in cash. Enjoy your trip and good luck!
 
#1,069
Hi everyone, want to share my experience with vat refund even though it's not Chanel purchase. Last month I had my forms stamped at Munich airport but haven't cash them until last week on my hometown airport. I went to global exchange to cash it but they refused all of my forms because the stamp date was 11.05.8795. It was obviously just an error on the year part but they won't accept. Fortunately, our airport is next to EU border. So she suggested me to get another stamp on the EU side. I went there and the entire custom officers had a good laugh out of it. They stamped another one on each forms without asking further. Then I can get my refund. I don't know what should be done if it's impossible to get another stamp, let's say you're in another continent. The agency should accept that it was only a human error in my opinion though. But, just to be safe, check your forms again ladies, error can happen :)
 
#1,071
Hi everyone! I’m planning a trip to Paris for about 2 weeks and will fly from US-France however I’ll probably travel around Europe (Belgium, Germany, etc) during my time in Europe.

1. If I purchase in Paris, am I still eligible to get my VAT refund when I come back to the states?

2. VAT refund for Paris is 12%..does anyone know the rates for Belgium? (Or is there a website that lists these percentages?)

Thank you!!
 
#1,072
nsolanki said:
Does anyone know how long it take to get Hermes refund on Credit Card? I wanted to get cash back, but Hermes said I can only get refund on my Credit Card, I don"t understand why, when all other shops give you the options of cash or credit. I mailed about 3 weeks ago.TIA
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Yes, it would be nice if they gave cash refunds, wouldn’t it? It took about one month for me to get mine each time I’ve shopped there. Check this Hermès thread for more info: https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/best-way-to-detax-after-h-in-europe.178302/
 
#1,076
ahhgoo said:
I’ll be doing the same thing in August!
How was your experience in Amsterdam? Was it an easy process to get the stamp? Is there any drop boxes to mail it back?
Click to expand...

As the tax refund wasn't through Global Blue, I had to wait in the general customs stamp line in terminal 3. I got to the airport around 11am and waited around 30 or so minutes (at the time, there were 3 officers there). Afterwards, I noticed a whole tourist group joining the line. The customs agent that I got asked me to take out my Boy bog. Afterwards, I dropped my refund in one of the three boxes near the start of the line.

I did my refund on the 26th and I just got my credit card refund today (the FX rate that was used to convert back to Canadian dollar was much lower for some reason). Hope this helps and enjoy your trip!
 
#1,077
bsprout said:
6 weeks today and I still haven’t received my cc refund from Premier. The website says it’s ‘being processed’. It’s a small refund so I chose to put it on my credit card as a test (vs. my other refund, in cash, which was instant). Next time I won’t bother and will just pay extra to receive the refund in cash. For me it’s worth the extra $$ to ensure you get the refund on the spot. From my experience Premier takes longer than other companies to process credit card refunds.
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Update: I received my refund at 8 weeks.
 
#1,078
pandalover1119 said:
Hi everyone! I’m planning a trip to Paris for about 2 weeks and will fly from US-France however I’ll probably travel around Europe (Belgium, Germany, etc) during my time in Europe.

1. If I purchase in Paris, am I still eligible to get my VAT refund when I come back to the states?

2. VAT refund for Paris is 12%..does anyone know the rates for Belgium? (Or is there a website that lists these percentages?)

Thank you!!
Click to expand...

With regard to No. 1, yes, you are still eligible for the VAT refund from purchases in Paris and all other EU countries you visit. But you must process your all forms at customs when departing from the last EU country. Meaning that if you depart from Germany, you process all your forms at the airport there. UNLESS your return flight has a connection in another EU county before returning to the US. So if your return flight from Germany has a connection in Amsterdam you will likely be told by German customs that you need to process the forms during your connection in Amsterdam. The exception to this is if your purchases are going in your checked bag (not recommended for anything of value), in which case you should be able to process in Germany,. This is my experience, but I have heard of others who were able to process the forms at their departure airport despite having a connection within the EU, so it doesn’t hurt to try. But you should also make sure to allow for lots of time for any layover in a EU county before returning to the US.

With regard to No. 2, I am not familiar with the the net VAT refund amounts for the various EU countries, but my understanding is that the differences are negligible (usually about 1-2%). Hopefully someone else can shed some more light on that.

Have fun and happy shopping!
 
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#1,080
Vanana said:
Thank you so much! With the exchange rate plus the price equalization of chanel and custom fees i might focus my future travel purchases to other brands where the euro price is still advantageous! I mean im all about helping the economy but the cut is getting deep and it’s not worth the trouble for the hassle of carrying etc unless it’s a unique piece that I love and can’t locate here in which case the price/duty is less relevant :thinking:
Click to expand...

LouboutinNewbie said:
Calculation: (Price -800 -1000)* 4.5% + (1% of 1000)

I was told the 4.5% could have been 9%.
Click to expand...

Hi I just came back from Europe yesterday was assessed a 9% custom fee. The guy went thru my luggage (even all the clothing item to see if any were new). He even looked thru all my small souvenirs (magnets and stuff) and tried to estimate the value. I didn’t even shopped that much, I only got one handbag and one cardholder. My boyfriend got me a handbag last summer, he even carried the huge shopping right pass the custom and wasn’t charged any fee ☹️
 
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