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

[luvchanel77]

Hi everyone,
I thought I would share some VAT refund details with you as I couldn't find any information when I was doing my research. I recently visited Amsterdam, Paris, and Milan in July this year and did some extensive hunting for the best VAT refund city whilst buying my Chanel bag.

Please note I am not associated with Global Blue, Chanel or anything/ anyone! This is just based on my findings and hoping it will help fellow Chanel lovers and travellers. I am also referring to Global Blue here however there are other tax refund companies throughout Europe (all of my purchases just so happened to be with Global Blue).

Chanel prices throughout Europe
- All the prices are standardised throughout Europe. You can go on the official Chanel website to check what they are.
- This website is pretty correct and I found this really useful to check Chanel prices worldwide (easier to jump from country to country compared to the offical website) - http://www.chanelprices.com
- The accounts are also linked throughout Europe so if you buy a bag in Italy, the SA can pull up your details in France.

Exchanges between countries
- You are able to exchange bags within 14 days between countries. The tax part gets a bit tricky as some countries have a higher VAT amount so I would recommend doing it within the same country. I exchanged my mini classic flap in Paris that I bought in Florence as it had a scratch on it. The SA allowed me to keep the Florence VAT forum as Italy has a higher tax rate and it was essentially the same product. You can see if you were changing products, it would be tricky.

VAT refund tips
- Not a tip however an important factor is that you will never get the full VAT rate refund. They i.e. the company doing the refund will always take some commission.
- The only way you will get the full VAT refund is if you purchase the Chanel bag at the airport store however they have limited stock and not all airports have Chanel (good to know for other brands too though).
- I used the Global Blue app to find the tax rate of each country, minimum spend and shops with on the spot refund offices - https://www.globalblue.com/tax-free-shopping/traveller-app. The app also has a refund calculator however it is important to note the calculator assumes you will get the full VAT refund so I found this useless!
- Gallerie Lafayette Haussmann's Chanel has a VAT refund office in there so you can get it back on the spot. I saw Hermes and LV did as well.
- As per the normal VAT refund process, you have to bring your item, passport, receipt, VAT refund form and flight details with you to the VAT refund counter for the stamp. Some officers actually check everything! Purchases in Paris are amazing because you can electronically scan the VAT refund form at the kiosk and skip the (long) line altogether. This saves a lot of time! Please note you will have to line up if you get a 'red cross' for whatever reason.
- There are VAT tax refund offices throughout the city so if you wanted to save time rather than line up at the airport, you can. You can only take purchases made in that city though otherwise the rest will have to be done at the airport of your final destination when leaving Europe. For example, you can't take an Italian VAT refund form to the Global Blue office in Paris. They will only accept purchases made in Paris.
- You get more VAT refund with credit card than cash. For example, in Paris credit card refund was circa 13% and cash was circa 10%. There is a separate line for cash refunds at the Paris airport in addition to the stamp line (not sure about the other countries).
- A country's VAT rate does not dictate the refund amount you get back i.e. just because a country has a higher standard rate, it doesn't mean you will get a higher refund amount. In my case:
Italy's standard VAT rate is 22% (I got 14% back)
France's is 20% (I got 13% back)
Amsterdam's is 21% (I got 11% back)

Experience in Chanel
- The larger cities have much more stock and colour options i.e. Florence had very little colour options whilst Milan had every colour under the sun!
- Specifically for Paris: Rue Cambon has 2 Chanel stores (and another one coming). I went into both and 19 has more stock than 31 even though it's the flagship store. You get the white packing at both of the Rue Cambon stores. I also found the Champs-Élysées store too busy (always had a line) and had limited stock (which may be due to the amount of tourists in the area).

If anyone has any tips or recently went to Europe, I'd love to hear about your experience! Hope you found this useful and happy Chanel shopping!! xx

 

[ilovemylife1414]

I bookmarked this post. Thanks for sharing! I do not know when will be my trip to Europe, but one day I hope I can use your tips!
Thank you!

 

[chanelbee23]

Hi everyone,

- As per the normal VAT refund process, you have to bring your item, passport, receipt, VAT refund form and flight details with you to the VAT refund counter for the stamp. Some officers actually check everything! Purchases in Paris are amazing because you can electronically scan the VAT refund form at the kiosk and skip the (long) line altogether. This saves a lot of time! Please note you will have to line up if you get a 'red cross' for whatever reason.

xx

Hi! Thank you for your post, I found it very informative. If you electronically scan the form at the kiosks in Paris CDG, do you still need to have the item with you? I am planning to buy a few bags and dont think they would fit in my carry on without getting quite squashed so I had expected to check them in and then proceed to do the VAT refund.

Would you know if the VAT kiosks are before or after the luggage check in area?

Thank you!

 

[luvchanel77]

Hi! Thank you for your post, I found it very informative. If you electronically scan the form at the kiosks in Paris CDG, do you still need to have the item with you? I am planning to buy a few bags and dont think they would fit in my carry on without getting quite squashed so I had expected to check them in and then proceed to do the VAT refund.

Would you know if the VAT kiosks are before or after the luggage check in area?

Thank you!

You need the item with you in case the kiosk scan declines your form. If that's the case, you will have to line up per the usual process. For me, the kiosk scan was fine and I didn't need to show anyone my item but I did have it on me just incase.

The VAT section is seperate from the check-in area. Worthwhile going on the website to check the location prior as its different for all 3 terminals.

I departed from terminal 1 and the VAT was on level 2 and check in was on level 3. It wasn't too hard going up and down as it's close to the lifts.
If you are thinking of buying alot, you can go to the VAT counter prior to checking in like we did.

Just a heads up as well the CDG airport lines for immigration etc. tends to be a single line for everyone so go early (unless your on business/first class etc. You go through a special speedy line) ! We allocated approx 1 hr for tax refund as the lines are huge with the amount of tourists in Paris. Once it took 1.15 hrs and another took 45 mins for the VAT refund alone to give you a rough Idea.

 

[chanelbee23]

You need the item with you in case the kiosk scan declines your form. If that's the case, you will have to line up per the usual process. For me, the kiosk scan was fine and I didn't need to show anyone my item but I did have it on me just incase.

The VAT section is seperate from the check-in area. Worthwhile going on the website to check the location prior as its different for all 3 terminals.

I departed from terminal 1 and the VAT was on level 2 and check in was on level 3. It wasn't too hard going up and down as it's close to the lifts.
If you are thinking of buying alot, you can go to the VAT counter prior to checking in like we did.

Just a heads up as well the CDG airport lines for immigration etc. tends to be a single line for everyone so go early (unless your on business/first class etc. You go through a special speedy line) ! We allocated approx 1 hr for tax refund as the lines are huge with the amount of tourists in Paris. Once it took 1.15 hrs and another took 45 mins for the VAT refund alone to give you a rough Idea.

Thats so helpful, thank you!

 

[Spy]

Hi everyone,
I thought I would share some VAT refund details with you as I couldn't find any information when I was doing my research. I recently visited Amsterdam, Paris, and Milan in July this year and did some extensive hunting for the best VAT refund city whilst buying my Chanel bag.

Please note I am not associated with Global Blue, Chanel or anything/ anyone! This is just based on my findings and hoping it will help fellow Chanel lovers and travellers. I am also referring to Global Blue here however there are other tax refund companies throughout Europe (all of my purchases just so happened to be with Global Blue).

Chanel prices throughout Europe
- All the prices are standardised throughout Europe. You can go on the official Chanel website to check what they are.
- This website is pretty correct and I found this really useful to check Chanel prices worldwide (easier to jump from country to country compared to the offical website) - http://www.chanelprices.com
- The accounts are also linked throughout Europe so if you buy a bag in Italy, the SA can pull up your details in France.

Exchanges between countries
- You are able to exchange bags within 14 days between countries. The tax part gets a bit tricky as some countries have a higher VAT amount so I would recommend doing it within the same country. I exchanged my mini classic flap in Paris that I bought in Florence as it had a scratch on it. The SA allowed me to keep the Florence VAT forum as Italy has a higher tax rate and it was essentially the same product. You can see if you were changing products, it would be tricky.

VAT refund tips
- Not a tip however an important factor is that you will never get the full VAT rate refund. They i.e. the company doing the refund will always take some commission.
- The only way you will get the full VAT refund is if you purchase the Chanel bag at the airport store however they have limited stock and not all airports have Chanel (good to know for other brands too though).
- I used the Global Blue app to find the tax rate of each country, minimum spend and shops with on the spot refund offices - https://www.globalblue.com/tax-free-shopping/traveller-app. The app also has a refund calculator however it is important to note the calculator assumes you will get the full VAT refund so I found this useless!
- Gallerie Lafayette Haussmann's Chanel has a VAT refund office in there so you can get it back on the spot. I saw Hermes and LV did as well.
- As per the normal VAT refund process, you have to bring your item, passport, receipt, VAT refund form and flight details with you to the VAT refund counter for the stamp. Some officers actually check everything! Purchases in Paris are amazing because you can electronically scan the VAT refund form at the kiosk and skip the (long) line altogether. This saves a lot of time! Please note you will have to line up if you get a 'red cross' for whatever reason.
- There are VAT tax refund offices throughout the city so if you wanted to save time rather than line up at the airport, you can. You can only take purchases made in that city though otherwise the rest will have to be done at the airport of your final destination when leaving Europe. For example, you can't take an Italian VAT refund form to the Global Blue office in Paris. They will only accept purchases made in Paris.
- You get more VAT refund with credit card than cash. For example, in Paris credit card refund was circa 13% and cash was circa 10%. There is a separate line for cash refunds at the Paris airport in addition to the stamp line (not sure about the other countries).
- A country's VAT rate does not dictate the refund amount you get back i.e. just because a country has a higher standard rate, it doesn't mean you will get a higher refund amount. In my case:
Italy's standard VAT rate is 22% (I got 14% back)
France's is 20% (I got 13% back)
Amsterdam's is 21% (I got 11% back)

Experience in Chanel
- The larger cities have much more stock and colour options i.e. Florence had very little colour options whilst Milan had every colour under the sun!
- Specifically for Paris: Rue Cambon has 2 Chanel stores (and another one coming). I went into both and 19 has more stock than 31 even though it's the flagship store. You get the white packing at both of the Rue Cambon stores. I also found the Champs-Élysées store too busy (always had a line) and had limited stock (which may be due to the amount of tourists in the area).

If anyone has any tips or recently went to Europe, I'd love to hear about your experience! Hope you found this useful and happy Chanel shopping!! xx

Thank you for the useful information! Does the note that we get more VAT refunds via credit card than cash apply to all European countries? I just claimed cash VAT in Barcelona recently, and was offered USD, AUD, GBP or SGD “because non-EU passport holders cannot get cash refunds in euros”. That didn’t make sense cos if I remember correctly, I have received GBP cash refunds in London, and EUR cash refunds in Frankfurt.

Did a quick calculation on the spot, and taking my VAT refund in my home currency SGD was the worst. The current exchange rate is about 1.53SGD to 1EUR, the tax refund rate was 1.28SGD to 1EUR. I decided on GBP as the rate worked out better, and the polite lady advised it might not be the best choice due to the low GBP rate recently. However, when I did the maths it was still a better rate than taking SGD. Thankfully I have use for pounds!

I think that essentially means that other than the processing fees that already reduce the % of VAT we receive, the VAT company takes a further cut from our VAT by giving us an unfavourable exchange rate.

 

[Newbie2016]

Thank you for the useful information! Does the note that we get more VAT refunds via credit card than cash apply to all European countries? I just claimed cash VAT in Barcelona recently, and was offered USD, AUD, GBP or SGD “because non-EU passport holders cannot get cash refunds in euros”. That didn’t make sense cos if I remember correctly, I have received GBP cash refunds in London, and EUR cash refunds in Frankfurt.

Did a quick calculation on the spot, and taking my VAT refund in my home currency SGD was the worst. The current exchange rate is about 1.53SGD to 1EUR, the tax refund rate was 1.28SGD to 1EUR. I decided on GBP as the rate worked out better, and the polite lady advised it might not be the best choice due to the low GBP rate recently. However, when I did the maths it was still a better rate than taking SGD. Thankfully I have use for pounds!

I think that essentially means that other than the processing fees that already reduce the % of VAT we receive, the VAT company takes a further cut from our VAT by giving us an unfavourable exchange rate.

That seems odd. I got VAT cash back in Milan a couple years ago in Euros.

 

[Chanel0524]

and I was told Rue Cambon 31 does offer Chanel items minus the VAT on the spot. Anyone else confirm?

 

[Mimikat]

and I was told Rue Cambon 31 does offer Chanel items minus the VAT on the spot. Anyone else confirm?

This is true. At 31 I spent 1000 euros. Receipt says immediate tax return of 130 euros for a total charge of 870 euros. At 19 they said they will do it too but you have to be under a certain spend to be able to do it. I had way too much champagne while we were at 19 and I decided I should get everything on my wish list! I had to send in for the refund for that one.

 

[bklner2014]

Thank you for the useful information! Does the note that we get more VAT refunds via credit card than cash apply to all European countries? I just claimed cash VAT in Barcelona recently, and was offered USD, AUD, GBP or SGD “because non-EU passport holders cannot get cash refunds in euros”. That didn’t make sense cos if I remember correctly, I have received GBP cash refunds in London, and EUR cash refunds in Frankfurt.

I've had a similar experience in Barcelona as well! They tried to push the VAT refund in my local currency, but I was equally adamant about receiving my refund in Euros, so they reluctantly agreed. I think non-EU passport holders are eligible to receive refunds in Euros, but you might encounter obstacles based on where you're processing the refund.

 

[arjush8784]

Does anyone know if you shop at the Chanel boutiques in London and process your VAT refund at the airport is there an added service fee? I know at Harrods, Global Blue can process your refund in store but they charge a service fee. I was just curious to know if it’s the same for the boutiques. Also are there any Chanel boutiques in London that will process your refund in store?

 

[Chanel0524]

This is true. At 31 I spent 1000 euros. Receipt says immediate tax return of 130 euros for a total charge of 870 euros. At 19 they said they will do it too but you have to be under a certain spend to be able to do it. I had way too much champagne while we were at 19 and I decided I should get everything on my wish list! I had to send in for the refund for that one.

Did they charge you including VAT and then refund you or just charge the price minus the VAT? [at Rue 31]?

 

[nicoletimur]

Hello! I’ll be in both London and Paris in the coming weeks visiting from the US and intend to purchase a Chanel handbag. I’m fairly unfamiliar with VAT and am hoping for advice on where it would be better to purchase once rebates are accounted for.

The bag that I’m looking at retails for roughly $3700 in the US, €3050 in Paris and £2740 in London according to the Chanel website.

Thnk you so much! Very much appreciate your insights.

 

[plue89]

Both actually have a similar VAT and the refund isn’t going to make a huge difference because the prices are fairly similar too. I think it’s a matter of the availability. If you are flying out of Heathrow though the cheapest is probably from Chanel Heathrow because there is no tax added so you get the ‘full VAT’ refund without processing fee. But there is a risk of not getting what you want.

 

[Mimikat]

Did they charge you including VAT and then refund you or just charge the price minus the VAT? [at Rue 31]?

The charge was with VAT out. It was like a 13% instant discount. Most of my other VAT refunds were posted to my charge card within two weeks. Only one purchase from LV that was made at 2 Place Vendome took twelve weeks to post back to my card.