Comments on: Value Added Tax Refund (VAT) for Vacation Shopping

By: B

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:56:27 +0000

July 28, 2011
i didn’t fly to canada i drove to canada and i’m home now and have all my reciepts is their anyway i can have a form sent to me in the US

By: Roxanne

Roxanne — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 01:36:44 +0000

I had 6 envelopes prepared for the Customs Office in my suitcase and discovered them when I arrived home.
Is there anything I can do? I wrote one of the companies an email and they said you absolutely need to get the papers stamped.
I went to the French Consulate who can provide a stamp, but requires $23. per envelope and does not guarantee the tax will be paid.
Can you suggest anything. Thank you.

By: Alma

Alma — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:36:34 +0000

A friend of mine went to Canada, she forgot to take her receipts to the duty free station before leaving Canada. Where can she request the form so she can get her tax money back from Canada?

By: CarInsuranceQuote.net

CarInsuranceQuote.net — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:13:33 +0000

I came back from Canada and just a few months before they had gotten rid of the VAT tax rebate. To make matters worse, we went when the dollar was equal to the Canadian dollar. They didn’t even want our money because they thought our economy was going in the dumps. Now it’s their dollar that is slipping. Writing about it makes me want to drive up there again.

By: Associate Money

Associate Money — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:36:21 +0000

Shucks, this post has come a bit late for me. I recently came back from a business trip in Canada bearing lots of gifts for friends. Should have asked the sales staff to take out the sales tax then.

By: carnation

carnation — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:35:37 +0000

i was told that when i went to visit canada but i never did process it. anyway i did not make any large purchases but they were sure more than CAD50. i did not know you can do this in the UK. i could have gotten a refund there. Thailand also has VAT refunds for purchases of 2,000 baht up. i haven’t done this as well but there are details when you google about it. some malls will give you the forms but most you can claim at the airport but you have to show the item you bought as well. it’s true too much hassle.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 22:27:28 +0000

Robert: Thanks for the explanation and correction. My quick math is not as accurate as when I was younger anymore It seems like every country has their own rules of how tax refunds are done but if you can take advantage of it, you definitely should.

PennySeeds: As I understand it, tourist are not able to deduct services such as hotel stays but if you are there on business, all the taxes from business expenses are deductible.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 17:23:03 +0000

Don’t forget that you can save on sales tax within the US, as well. If you happen to visit Oregon on New Hampshire, neither of those states charge a sales tax. (In fact, New Hampshire doesn’t even have a state income tax.) This leads to some nice insurance that they will save money for people who live (or just shop) there. Aside from that, they are both lovely places to visit.
Jerry

By: PennySeeds.com

PennySeeds.com — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 13:57:43 +0000

This is a pretty interesting post. Any idea if this works on all purchases made in other countries or just goods?

For example; If you could apply this method to things like hotel stays, cab fees, resturants, ect. you could save a lot of cash pretty fast.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 13:00:41 +0000

@moneyning The VAT rate in the UK is currently 15%, due to return to 17.5% on 1 January 2010. This is not the highest rate of VAT in Europe. Denmark has a 25% rate.

Also, the price you pay includes the VAT, so in your example of paying 1000 you’d only get about 150 back – currently less, about 130, because of the lower rate of VAT in the UK. The same thing in Denmark would get you a refund of about 200.

In Europe it is necessary to get the forms stamped by Customs as you leave to return to your home country, and send them back to the retailer who needs them to support not charging/refunding the VAT.