hi,

Im still new here so im not sure if this is the right place to ask.

Im going to travel around europe this holiday and am going to buy something....wanna ask how should I redeem the VAT and which country is more user friendly.

k, im going to buy an iphone 4 during summer. (unlocked set) because I'm not local, not practical to use swisscom or orange plan.

UK 17.5
France 19.6
Austria 20
Belgium 21
Italy 20
Luxembourg 15

above are the value added tax rate at the respecting countries but I'm not sure if its the same for mobilephone/IT product. and i can expect a 20% cash back at the airport right? if im buying iphone at italy or belgium.

thank you

The agency at the airport will charge a % fee for their services.

When you buy something in Europe and you ask the shop for tax free, they will give you a form on which you need to get the customs stamp at the border (or airport) back to Switzerland.

With that form you can get about half of the VAT back.

However at the border (or arrival airport) you are supposed to declare what you have bought abroad and pay the swiss VAT if the amount of what you bought is above a certain limit (used to be 200 CHF if I am not mistaken).

So for instance if you buy something for 240 euros (including 40 euros VAT for instance), you could get back from the tax free system about 20-30 euros. However you should pay then the Swiss VAT at the border.

if in germany you get all the tax back

are there any other country which i can take high percentage back like germany?

however, my travel itenary is germany-finland-germany-belgium-switzerland.

so if i bought something at finland, i can get the money back from finland? and do i need to pay germany local tax?

germany-finland-germany-belgium are all in the EU so you do not get tax back or are charged tax when crossing borders.
belgium-switzerland is cross border to a non EU country so you possibly can get tax back supposing the shop was in EU & gave you suitable documents

You actually never get back 20% as it is a Value Added Tax so you add the 20% to an initial value and what you get back is less.

Example:
Good worth 100 Euro
VAT= 20% of 100 Euro
Final price=120 Euro

You would get back 20 Euro=16.67% of final price.

In most countries if you use the tax free service, they will charge a fee and you end up getting back about 12-13%

Then you pay 7.6% at import of the good in Switzerland (if the price is above 300 CHF per person or per item)

Cheers,
K

Think twice about the iPhone 4, there seems to be a major design flaw in the antennas:
http://gizmodo.com/5576839/wireless-...-got-a-problem

ya....i heard about it already...and im a left hander....pfft....im getting ultimate ears 10vi with mic for that...

ok....so if i bought something at finland, i need to get it copped there, and when i cross the border of belgium, i can get my money back from belgium athorities?

well, im not buying iphones only....buying luxury handbags for mom too....

anyway, im from malaysia, so switzerland will charge me too? -__- i wont be here for long tho...will be back in a month or two...

VAT is only refunded by the country that collected it!
No way the Belgians will refund you the taxes you paid elsewhere.

so i can only get tax refund on the item i bought at my last EU destination? and for the befores i cant get a penny back when i leave their country heading to another EU?

From my experiences in the UK, if the shop is signed up with the agency this is true, but some shops do it directly and you get it all back, the actual calculation is just under 15% for the UK, something like 14.85% as you don't get VAT back on the VAT already paid. I bought a Rolex for somebody recently and got all my tax back, about £600

Shops are legaly able to charge an "adminstration" cost which is not defined anywhere and can be as much as 10%. Best thing to do when they try this on is to walk away.

No,
You can only get a refund when you leave the EU to go to a non EU country.
There are no refunds between EU countries i.e. when you cross a border between 2 EU countries

300CHF (which used to be €200 - but now is rather more! ).

I.e. you get back exactly the VAT that you paid.

You get back exactly the VAT you paid unless an intermediary agency gets a fee.

I was more commenting on the fact that I read people saying "You get back 20% of the price of the item" which is not correct.

Cheers,
K

Your best bet is to walk over the border from Switzerland to Germany, buy an iPhone 4 there.
Then walk back into Switzerland, get the customs form stamped, and pay your Swiss tax of 7.6%
Then walk back to the shop in Germany, present the form and collect your tax savings.
Then walk back into Switzerland

In Konstanz / Kreuzlingen this is all easy walking distance.... and all achieved within minutes. Well, lets say one hour max, including queuing time

Much more efficient than going through those tax agencies.

And you retain the ability to go back for any warranty issues.... (although those are void when you jailbreak the iPhone....)

PS Digitec has iPhone 4 at 1,400 CHF
So at German 19% tax rate, you'd get around 266 CHF back.
And of course you'd pay the Swiss 7.6% tax, which would be around 106 CHF
Saving you around 160 CHF based on the above figures....

i need france, belgium, italy or UK set....they are officially unlocked.

yes, i thought of saving up a 1xxCHF is a good idea. =)