Hi,

Was wondering if anyone has experience with reclaiming Swiss VAT at Geneva airport.

I'm an EU citizen living and working in Switzerland on a B permit. I know about the VAT refund possibilities between the EU and CH but have never actually used the scheme. Now I am interested to buy a watch in CH and the amount is significant enough for me to want and try to get the Swiss VAT back (I don't want to buy the watch in the EU as I can get a good deal here).

Being a resident of CH, I guess 'officially' I am entitled to reclaim only VAT on purchases made in the EU - or does the B permit not make me sufficiently Swiss for tax purposes?

If I fly to my country of origin from GVA airport (as I do quite requently), couldn't I simply show the watch and my EU passport at the reclaim counter to get the necessary stamps for refund? Would they check my residency status?

Would appreciate any insights, thanks!

Last time I thought of trying this, I was advised against it, mainly because of the fact that I had a Swiss permit. Based on this permit, I reside in Switzerland, so why should I not pay Swiss VAT (irrespective of what passport I hold)? It is possible for me to go to, say germany, france, etc., to buy stuff and reclaim taxes back, because I live in Switzerland. You may get away with it, or you may get caught by the Swiss authorties; the latter would not be a good thing, I imagine.

I am also curious to see responses from others on this list.

Regards,

What matters "legally" is your place of residency - which is not proven by your passport, though many customs officers will assume that if you have a non-Swiss passport you reside in the country of that passport. I suspect however that they may have access to some cross-reference database (passport <-> permit), in which case the risk is high...

I guess you're right, Oldmancoyote, about this database. What made me wonder about the procedure is that the Global Refund service at Geneva airport is handled by the American Express exchange booth... although surely there must be a customs officer involved in the process?
I guess I'll have to ask a friend living in the EU to get the watch for me...