Hi all,

just wondering if it would make sense for me to claim back at the airport the 20% UK VAT of my 650 pound laptop I will be picking up in the UK next week, and then paying Swiss tax.

I guess I can pay tax by declaring it when I walk through customs?

Thanks for your help
Cheers,
Andy.

Yes, exactly.

Tom

If i recall, i need to prove i have lived outside the uk for over half the last financial year? Perhaps i am wrong.

Would people know if it is worth it financially to do this? Minus 20% uk vat but then add on swiss tax (5ish%) but i think there is also a fee for this?

Sorry, i am so bad at financial issues!

You'll get £73 back, then pay 7% in Switzerland (£46 or so) so net you'll be £25 better off.....

I tried to do this for some phones I bought in the UK, but the shops were useless (Apple store, O2, etc) and wouldn't complete the necessary forms (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/sectors/c...visitors.htm#2) to allow me to claim the VAT back at the airport. Buying stuff in duty free then paying the tax when you arrive at Swiss customs is far easier. However, the discounts the shops in airports give never seems to be the normal price minus VAT - maybe the rent on airport shops is especially high or they just want to make more money.

Airport shops are notoriously expensive...

My other half ordered a laptop with an English keyboard and we picked it up in the UK.

The shop gave us a form for the VAT claim and we had to get this stamped on departure and posted it back to the shop. We were flying from City airport and thankfully we found out beforehand that we couldn't get the form stamped before the departure gate because City airport didn't have a counter before departure. We ended up going to Gatwick just to get the form stamped.

There is a letterbox to put the form in, same at Stanstead!

Many thanks for this discussion you have saved me quite a headache with this. Cheers, Andy

I'd suggest that many people would get their tax off leaving UK and lose the bag, box and packing when entering CH. #73 better off!

Of course how long you queue and the follow up 'agency' charges may make all of this not worth while.

You don't even have to post the stamped form back to the supplier.
You can get the vat back in cash at the airport.