VAT refunds from EU

[leothelion1au]

Hi,
Does anyone know how to go about getting the Vat refunded from a purchase on eBay. I bought item from eBay store in Germany..
Any suggestions would be helpful..
Thanks

[putney32]

if he is a business, registered for VAT (or MWS in Germany), he may do a refund, but most times the amount of paprwork involved for european sellers to make you a refund of a few dollars is not worth the bother.

you can always email the seller, and ask him

[phorum_junkie*]

Pretty sure you have to arrange for them to be sent VAT free before you pay although I could be wrong as I don't sell here in the UK. I do know there is a lot of paperwork involved and unless it is a major company who are already geared up to exporting VAT free I doubt if you will get anywhere asking the company to oblige. If there is a way to reclaim the VAT yourself once the goods arrive you would probably do best calling Customs. You would minimaly require a VAT invoice and an awful lot of sellers are not registered for VAT and private sellers will also not be including VAT.

[cherry*135]

I don't think you can claim it back if you aren't present in that country  when you make a purchase and are about to depart from it (and haven't lived there for more than 6 mths),  or if the seller hasn't deducted it from the sale total before payment.

When I was overseas (UK & EU), had VAT receipts for purchases, the retailers took a % (commission) of the amount refundable, the receipts had to be presented to customs officer before departure at the airport, who stamped each one individually. Then they could be put with a claim form in the post and wait for the refund to a c/c.