carolyn witherspoon

can we get our vat refund on hotel and meal expenses at the airport when we leave london?

elaine

No, the VAT refund applies to goods that are being taken out of the country. <BR>

Diane

A few things about VAT return. The store you buy from must participate in returning VAT. You need to complete a form in the store, which the sign. There is generally a flat fee associated with each store you wish to get VAT returned from. The stores generally have an amount you must spend in order to qualify to receive the VAT back. At the airport you have to present the forms to customs and have them verify you are taking the items out of the country. It generally takes quite a few months to get your refund back. I just got my refund back from January travel.

elaine

Diane <BR>I haven't had to wait for a refund, at least as of my last visit in 98 I didn't <BR>This is what I do,and did, if it still works <BR>For goods you are taking with you, ask each store what their minimum purchase is for VAT refunds. It can be no less than 50 pounds, at some it's more. It is best to pay by credit card. The store must fill out a refund form on your behalf. You must get this form at the store; don't leave without it. Before leaving the country, fill out your portion of the form. Get to the airport early in case there is a line at the customs desk; there usually is. You are required to show the goods, so don't pack them in your checked luggage. The customs officials must stamp your refund form. You then have two choices. Choice 1: You can mail the papers back to the store and wait for a credit, <BR>either in the form of a credit to your credit card, or a refund check. Make sure you have retained a copy. The <BR>credit to your credit card will probably give you the best exchange rate and highest refund. If they send a check in pounds sterling to your home, you may have to pay a significant fee to cash it in the U.S. If you want to mail the form from the airport, remember to bring an envelope and local stamp with you, or else wait and mail it after you get home. Choice 2: You can go to the cash VAT Refund Desk at the airport and get your refund in cash. If you ask for American cash, you will lose a little on the currency transaction. <BR> <BR>Can anyone verify that the above still works? <BR>If you are traveling to other countries within the European Union, you don't have to do all this when you leave Britain. You can take care of all your VAT refunds from all the countries when you are leaving your last country. <BR>

MDaniels

Note that here in Canada, foreign visitors can get a refund on their GST. In New York, you cannot get a refund on City sales Tax, etc. <BR>I guess it depends how hard the location feels they have to work to get your business. I'd go visit London or New York regardless...

Diane

Elaine, the last 2 refunds - in March of 99 and January 2000 took about 6 months to appear on my credit charge. They are all from Scotland, not England, don't know if that makes any difference.

Me

For the last three years, our Paris VAT experience has been this: <BR> <BR>When our purchases met the minimum for a VAT refund, the stores rang up two charges - one for the amount less the VAT, and one for the difference should we not file our VAT at the airport/customs. The stores informed us that they would only run the second charge through if they did not receive the customs form within a certain time frame (think it was 60 or 90 days). So we've never had to worry about a refund since we didn't actually pay up front, and we have never had a problem with a store processing the second charge.

howard

Elaine, in response to you question, the only difference we encountered last November in Italy was that our envelope for mailing in the VAT form did not need postage. <BR>We only waited two months for our refund to appear on our credit card bill, which is the exact amount of time we were advised it would take.