Living in BFG? Don't pay German VAT on your shopping!

Money_saving_Martyn

Hi all!

Don't forget, you can pick up a form on camp, pay about €5 for it (admin charge) and get tax free shopping on your purchases in German shops!

German VAT ( Mehrwertsteuer or MwSt) is around 19% The VAT seems to work the same in Germany, (different rates on different products with some products being VAT free) so if your buying just some essentials (milk and bread etc) in the supermarket, it's not worth paying admin fee. On the other hand, if your buying brand new furniture (Ikea), electricals or buying a lot from the supermarket you can save a load! As far as I know, you can get from the same place you get fuel coupons from - ask around!

Beware - there are a few rules attached to them (mainly regarding items you would need your ration card for in the NAAFI) and not everyone in Germany will except them. Ask someone fully in the know for an explination!

misty4798

The LPO costs €3, and is only applicable on a bill of €50 or over. Apparently by rights we should be able to shop "ohne MwSt" anywhere but this isn't the case - each garrison has it's own arrangements with local businesses. It is worth checking though, because I saved a lot of money on my "big service" (by "big" read "expensive" lol) at the local VW garage.

And the occasional LPO does help my IKEA habit :shhh:

Be careful if you're trying to stock up on bargains before you go back to the UK though, because you do lose your entitlement 6 weeks before your posting date. It depends how flexible your clerks are though - our garrisons are closing down/changing at the moment and most people are going back to the UK - Osnabrück office seems to be quite flexible about the rules though, whereas in Münster we need to show our posting order to prove our entitlement.

Misty

bonsibabe

Another point to note is that MWST is not reclaimable from the supermarket for your normal shopping, no matter how much you spend. This is because we are allowed to shop at NAAFI, which is supposed to be tax free shopping anyway, although it works out cheaper to shop in the german supermarket anyway as the goods are far cheaper than NAAFI. But it is definitely worth the 3 bucks for the savings that can be made when buying furniture, electricals etc. We bought a leather suite (3+2+1) worth around £4500 in UK for just under £2500 so you can save a hell of a lot of money

D x

helliecopter_2

bonsibabe wrote: »

Another point to note is that MWST is not reclaimable from the supermarket for your normal shopping, no matter how much you spend. T
D x

This isn't always true and it depends on the agreement between the camp and the local retailers. Celle's Real accepts the MWST forms for normal food & household bits. The only thing worth remembering when using it on food items etc is the rate is a lot lower than the 19.5% payable on labour charges, furniture etc.

misty4798

Thanks Hellie, that's good to know as we're posted to the mighty Fally next month. Munster's Ratio accepts the form too.

bargainboy

real in Celle is good but it is a fair drive from Fally ( 40mins )just to save a little on shopping. I would advise doing this for a big monthly shop and try to get everything you need at once, but Real is like UK Sainsbury's in price terms.