You can't get back the money until you have obtained the stamps and presumably legally exported the goods out of the EU. Although the shop won't check if you turn your car around after getting the stamps from German customs, the latter might do so and then you would be caught.

Just get the money back the next time you go to the stores.

Or ask if you can just mail the form and they'll transfer by bank. Not really a thing in Supermarkets but a store where you buy for example a bike or a bed is used to such.

Getting the refund and exporting goods are actually two different things, surely they are connected but they are separate issues. You can't declare to export something and than just drive back into the country. If it would be that easy many Swiss would do shopping for all their German friends.

Some do!
And Swiss who live in Germany claim the German tax back as well.

As long as they have a Swiss address to put on the form

Quite, but plenty of addresses available in Switzerland!

I've done it.

Bought some motorcycle parts for me and my wife's Italian cousin, got papers stamped, and then drove back into Italy to bring the muffler to the cousin.

Tom

O.k. you can do it, it is however legally not allowed.

But you crossed into Switzerland and then entered Italy again?

Yes.

Tom

Ah, o.k. that is different from just turning around the car without actually leaving the country.

in the past, i had the form stamped at the german border near marktkauf and then cycled over to france and then crossed the border to switzerland by novartis. not sure whether that would land me in trouble if caught.

It would indeed if you were caught, as you must exit the EU customs area with the goods immediately after obtaining the stamps, i.e. there and then at that same border crossing.
I've exited Germany at a train station different (an unmanned one) to the one I got the forms stamped at, but I know that you are not meant to do this.

It's all fine and dandy............providing you don't get caught, and if you do i hope you got a pot of Vaseline in the muffler......

Why?

I exported it to CH, legally, and re-imported it to Italy, legally.

Tom

and no doubt paid the Italian VAT on re-importing .....

It was below the VAT limit, also for the Swiss, so money back from Italy, tax free import into CH, and tax-free into I! :

Win, win, win!

Tom

This thread is about claiming VAT back, not about importing/exporting cheap products under the VAT threshold.


Talk about splitting hairs, you really got nothing more intelligent to do ?

The thread has moved on slightly from the original post. Threads do that sometimes. The topic is still the same.

They weren't cheap, and Italian VAT is 22%, but as we were in two, we were under the CHF 300/pp (total was close to CHF 600, so CHF 130 or so in VAT saved!

Tom