Back in February we took a trip to the UK, purchased $800 or so worth of goods, and filled out the VAT refund forms at the various shops. When we got to the airport to come home, there was no customs officer on duty to stamp the forms - rather the agent on the phone at the VAT refund desk said to drop the forms in the box adjacent to the desk and that the refund would be processed - no stamp needed.

Now its April and I still haven't seen the refund come through. Anyone have experience with obtaining VAT refunds in this manner?

Thanks

I've done it without problem, but I've always gotten the stamp from the customs officer...not sure if they're really process it without the stamp.

I've been told (in another context) they require the stamp.

I find getting tax refunds to be far too difficult abroad. In Argentina last year, I bought about $3000 of goods and exported them with me. The agents at the airport were only able to process the tax refunds on a small fraction of my overall purchases. I did follow the "rules," but the exceptions to the rules and the bureaucracy were vast.

Canada, IMHO, has the best system. The European countries and others would benefit in sales if they improved the ease whereby foreign nationals can receive refunds on all exported purchases. If the US had a national sales tax, I am sure we could learn a thing or two from the Canadian system, as well.

I do believe that you require a stamp in order to obtain a refund of your VAT, hopefully they will return the forms back to you and perhaps on a later trip, you can have them stamped. Of course, the drawback is that you need the goods on your person, so this may not help. When traveling in the UK and France, I�ve always had my forms stamped, allowing at least 2 additional hours for the line at CDG each time. For my upcoming trip in June, I�ll do the same and since I�ll be in London as well, I�ll ask at the counter if refunds can be obtained with out a stamp, though I highly doubt it.

I understand that the stamp is needed - but when we were departing from LGW, there was no customs officer. I would have gotten the stamp if someone was on duty. There were several other travelers doing the same thing.

Anyone have a similar experience?

I don't know if this helps, but I have links to these (and many more business traveler resources) on my web site:

VAT refund facilitators:

VAT Recovery Group
http://www.vrc-vatrefund.com/

VAT Refund P/L
http://www.vatrefund.com.au/


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Michael Steinberg
Editor
BizTrip
http://www.biztrip.com

In Europe, at least, the VAT refund system seems to work better in theory than in practice. (And I bet I know the source of jginnyc's problem -- see below.)

Saying that, I have been successful most times getting a refund when flying out of CDG after shopping trips to Paris. When packing, I put all the tax-refund stuff I've bought in one place in one suitcase. At the airport, I find the "d�taxe" office, get the paperwork stamped, stick the envelope in the mail box, then go check in. Within a week or two, a credit shows up on my credit card.

At AMS, though, I have been unsuccessful. I'd bought a good deal of stuff, and it was in one of two suitcases (both too large for carry-ons). I was flying BA to Boston (AMS-LHR-BOS). When I got to the tax refund office, the agent would not stamp my paperwork because Holland was not my last EU country before flying home, even though I would only be in LHR for an hour to change planes! I was in a Catch-22: I would have no access to my luggage in LHR (the bags would need to be checked through to BOS -- no time to collect the bags, find the tax refund in LHR, then re-check bags).

As for jginnyc, I suspect that s/he misunderstood the "no stamp" statement. The envelope in which you place the paperwork does not need a [postage] stamp if you mail it in the EU. However, the tax refund paperwork does need a [customs] stamp to be processed.

Thanks wideman for the info. I can tell you that we attempted to get the customs stamp - but when the office is closed, what do you do? There was a red "hotline" next to the window with a sign saying to call customs if no one was at the window. That's when the customs officer who answered the phone gave the response that I mentioned above.

Note - the box we placed the forms in was marked specifically for VAT/Customs use. It was most definitely not a mail box.

There has to be a stamp, or else the VAT refund people have no way of knowing whether the form is actually valid or not I guess? That being said, we too found that only the point of departure from the EU will provide the tax stamps, to make sure the items are not being left within the EU. T2 at CDG is MUCH better than T1 for this, as the lines are much shorter. IMHO, many places in the EU the Detaxe office is before checkin and security... go to the airport a few hours early, buy a one-way full Y ticket to the states or wherever, get the tax stamp, go check in for your flight and refund the ticket.

[This message has been edited by kanebear (edited 04-11-2002).]

as a follow up, the VAT refund posted to my credit card account on 4/12.

Seems like a long time (nearly two months), but they got around to it.