Could you please recommend any grocery shops (Lidl, Aldi etc) participating in VAT tax refund program (Global Blue, Premier Tax, etc.) near Basel? They can be in France or Germany.

Why do mention Global Blue or Premier Tax? Most stores around here handle VAT refunds themselves.

OK so they have their own VAT refund forms?

Global Blue is mostly used by shopping malls, deaprtment stores or shops of big chains. Less by supermarkets in germany .
In France they use Global blue as well, so you can do your shopping at casino or E.Leclerc in St.Louis.The more you shop from one article, will result in deductions from the regular price.
But you have to shop for at least 175 euros, to participate.

Hieber and Marktkauf in Germany both use their own forms, so you get the full VAT back. Global Blue etc take quite a big fee.

Every single store I've visited in German (from Basel) provided their own tax form for VAT. I've never had any trouble getting it stamped at the border and getting my money back on my next visit.

You do not need any special forms, but you DO need to ask for it.

Apparently E.Leclerc in Saint-Louis requires minimum daily purchase for 175euro in order to issue tax refund form. Is every shop having own limit or is it general rule?

That's France, in Italy it's only EUR 153 (and max EUR 600).

Tom

What about Germany?

In Germany there is no limit, thats the reason everybody is going and get
the GST refunded. The Customs Officers are that busy, they are going to make a machine , which stamps the refunds.

In France it's always min 175 euro, in Germany it ranges from 0-10 euro before they will do the paperwork.

so do you ask the person at the cash register or customer service desk to get the VAT paper to get stamped?

Yes. Most shops ask you even if you need one. It's called "Ausfuhrschein".

In France the €175 minimum is a legal requirement.

In Germany there is no legal minimum.

>>Here's<< an article covering the German VAT-refund, but it's in German.

VAT-refund in Germany is a voluntary service provided by shops. "Voluntary" as-in: There's no legal requirement to refund VAT, but any shop near the CH/D border not offering this service can practically shut down.

As it is a voluntary service, some shops unilaterally decide to only offer a refund from specific minimum amounts. They're free to do so.

In practice they do so to limit their administrative work: A refund requires issuing a VAT-refund-slip, and filing the same for ~10 yrs after it's returned. Hardly worth filing an A4 paper for a few cents.

When shopping in Germany, I advise to avoid all shops which don't just do a "direct refund". GlobalBlue (and the like) are either horribly expensive in fees, or complicated as they require you to carry extra cards, yielding the process pretty cumbersome. Culprits I know of: Aldi, C&A, ZARA. I´m avoiding these 3 like the plague!

Depends on the shop. Marktkauf it is at the checkout - and it's all done on the receipt. Lidl use some kind of card system to handle it; I've never bothered to register.

Me neither. It is cheaper for me even without reclaiming the German VAT. So it's a win-win-situation for everybody - me, the shops - the German governement - if I don't. (Not many of those situations left now a days are there )

Aldi uses this strange card.

Lidl does it the normal, easy way!

And soon in Germany you will need to spend a minimum of 50 € in each and every store in order to be eligible for the German VAT refund.


https://www.blick.ch/news/wirtschaft...d15445192.html


https://www.blick.ch/news/wirtschaft...d15424056.html

What VAT rate does Germany apply to food?

In Italy, it's 4%, so generally not worth the bother.

Tom

Gross simplification: German MWSt (VAT) is 7% on food and 19% on other stuff (there are other categories with their own associated rates, but like I said, this is the simplified version).

A lot of "grocery" items are taxed at full whack: most pet supplies, for example.