I am traveling to Paris next week and am planning to buy some designer handbags. I have tried searching for VAT on tripadvisor and on the US customs Web site but am still unclear.
I understand I have to get a form from the shop and request a refund before I leave France. How long will that take for me to resquest it at the airport? Is it worth taking the time to do it?
Will I have to pay any taxes when I arrive back in the states? Is there a limit on what I can come back with?
Thank you in advance for your help!
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Your allowance that you can bring back into the USA is $800.
Depending on WHERE you purchase your goods, you should be able to get the tax refund. Most of the big department stores will give you a refund if you spend a certain amount in one day. (I believe it is 150 euros) When you finish your shopping, you take your reciepts to a desk and they process a tax refund form for you. If you visit boutiques, the policy varies so be sure and ask.
Once you have the form, you present it at the tax refund counter in the airport on the day you leave. Arrive early to allow extra time to do this. You must have the goods to show the agent, so don%26#39;t pack them in luggage you have already checked in. At the time the merchant processes your tax refund paperwork, you designate how you want the refund dispersed. I always designate a credit card. The refund takes between 6-8 weeks to process.
Bear in mind that if you under declare your goods coming back home and are caught, you could be in for big hassles. The wife of a friend of my husband%26#39;s did this and was caught. She was fined $850 by customs and every time she travels she gets flagged for searches. If you spend over the $800 it is always best to declare what you%26#39;re bringing back. Usually the customs duty, if any is about 3% on the amount you go over the $800.
I was in France last fall and brought back a lot of stuff over the allowance. I declared all of it. When I went in the line, the agent looked at my form, smiled and said, %26quot;Go ahead and go...%26quot; without assessing me any duty.
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I guess they appreciated your honesty, Mascara.
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Actually at 3% you have to bring in a lot over your $800 free allowance before it becomes worth the time and trouble to process the paperwork. As you can see they make a lot more money a lot more easily from penalties levied on people who are dumb enough not to declare and get caught...
One word of warning: Some states are levying a %26quot;sales tax substitute%26quot; (California is, for sure and others either are or will when they figure this out...) on the *total* amount you import if you bring in more than $800. California%26#39;s so-called %26quot;Use Tax%26quot; is levied at 8% and I understand the demand notice will arrive in the mail a few weeks after you arrive home...
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The larger, %26#39;..grand magazins..%26#39; (Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, Le Bon Marche) and SOME other stores and shops offer PARTIAL, in-store %26#39;..de Taxe..%26#39; sales. You willusually get back 12% or the 19.6% VAT on most consumer goods.
The %26#39;..catch..%26#39; to VAT refunds is that you must spend a MINIMUM of 175 € in the SAME store, on the SAME day, to qualify for ANY VAT refund (either partial in-store or apply for the full refund amount at the airport when you depart the EU) on those purchases. If you spend 100 € in one store...170€ in amother store, 75€ in another, you are entitle to exactly ZERO in VAT refunds....even though your total purchases exceeded the minimum 175 € amount.
So...if you plan to do much shopping in Paris, it usually %26#39;..pays..%26#39; to have a %26#39;..shopping strategy..%26#39; and try to %26#39;..concentrate..%26#39; many of your purchases in a single store, to maximize the potential for VAT refunds. In addition to any VAT refund you may qualify for, stores like PRINTEMPS offer immediate 10% discounts at individual points-of-purchase, simply by showing your US passport.
PRINTEMPS--
http://departmentstoreparis.printemps.com/
GALERIES LAFAYETTE--
http://www.galerieslafayette.com/index.do
Le BON MARCHÉ--
http://www.lebonmarche.fr/
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I missed out on that VAT refund by making my purchases at BHV on 2 different days. I was actually aware of the terms of the refund poliicy, but after having purchased a Swarovski necklace I was absolutely positive that I wouldn%26#39;t be buying myself any more gifts. Little did I know that 2 days later I was going to find a %26quot;companion%26quot; for my pretty necklace in the form of a Swarovski bracelet. (What could I do? My necklace felt lonely!)
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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt; What could I do? My necklace felt lonely! %26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
I am so touched by your empathy for your poor, lonely necklace, Shoesy! ;-)
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I%26#39;m glad you understand, Irish.
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We bought some things at Chanel last November (my beloved purse being one) and spent around 1500 euros. Chanel filled out the paperwork for us and we went to the VAT office at the airport where we showed them our goods and passports and they stamped our paperwork then we deposited in the box nearby. We just got our refund last week of $200 dollars. So it is definitely worth it to get this done. Also, make sure you have your passport when shopping as they need an official document to fill out the paperwork. We used a credit card so the money just got credited right back.
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some stores will also run the vat on a separate credit slip and then destroy that when the forms are mailed back -- so it is never processed and you dn%26#39;t have to mess with the conversion costs etc
we did this for shoes in Paris on our last trip and for rings we bought in Florence on a previous trip
as others have noted -- the VAT refund only kicks in when you make substantial purchases in one place --
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%26gt;%26gt;We bought some things at Chanel last November (my beloved purse being one) and spent around 1500 euros. Chanel filled out the paperwork for us and we went to the VAT office at the airport where we showed them our goods and passports and they stamped our paperwork then we deposited in the box nearby. We just got our refund last week of $200 dollars. So it is definitely worth it to get this done. Also, make sure you have your passport when shopping as they need an official document to fill out the paperwork. We used a credit card so the money just got credited right back.%26lt;%26lt;
When you can back into the states did you declare it and have to pay?
Also, I can only bring back $800 total?
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