VAT Refund from Amazon for BFPO Addresses - Discussion

oscardog

Afternoon,

After many happy purchases and VAT refunds from Amazon my last order and request was met by this:

However, before we issue your VAT refunds, UK VAT Legislation requires us to obtain a "Certificate of Entitlement" from the BFPO confirming that the items have been shipped to and received by a member of the BFPO.

Amazon will accept a copy of the order receipt which was dispatched with the item(s), signed and stamped by the procurement officer or purchasing officer, along with proof of the identity of the person who signed and stamped to authorize the purchase. A BFPO headed cover sheet referring to the orders should accompany this.

This is in accordance with paragraph 14.4 of HM Revenue and Customs Notice 725 dated September 2008. If this certificate is not supplied, Amazon cannot make a refund.

Please send the stamped receipt, quoting all the qualifying order numbers on which you have not been refunded VAT, to:

etc etc

I have my Certificate of Entltlement - no problems there and I can send a copy of the order paperwork but does anyone know anything about who the "Procurement or Purchasing Officer" is?

Has anyone successfully got a VAT refund in the last few weeks as I know of no-one who has? :mad::mad::mad::mad:

Anyone else been hit by this?

I have been on to Amazon but they keep replying with the same cut and paste email. As for the bit about the approving officer - God only knows who that is when you go online and buy something.

The email implies I need to be authorized every time I buy something from them!!!!!!

JasonLVC

14.4 Zero-rating supplies of goods
A supply qualifies for zero-rating if it satisfies the following conditions:

Condition Description
1 You (the supplier) must receive a certificate of entitlement

(The certificate uniquely identifyies the supply. This must be either: a certificate bearing the original signature of the head or acting head of the embassy, high commission, consulate, visiting force contingent or international organisation, with evidence of the qualifying status of the signatory; or any other form of certificate specified by their host government. Exceptionally in the case of a supply for the British force in Cyprus or its members, or for a visiting force in Germany or its members, you must obtain and keep a certificate from the person placing the order uniquely identifying the supply for which relief is claimed, and claiming entitlement).

2 The goods must be for the official use of:

an embassy;a high commission; a consulate; an international organisation;
a NATO visiting force; ora British armed force contingent based in Cyprus;

or for the personal use of a member of staff of one of these bodies.

‘Official use’ includes goods the body receives for distribution (including sale) to its members and their accompanying dependants. ‘Personal use’ includes distributing goods to their accompanying dependants for no reward.

3 You, or a forwarder acting on your behalf, must remove the goods to an official address of the embassy, high commission, consulate, international organisation or force in another EC Member State or in one of the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus. You may consign goods to the post or to a courier or fast parcel service, including the British Forces Post Office

(BFPO). If your customer is a British embassy or high commission in another Member State, you may consign goods to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for delivery through diplomatic channels.

4 You must obtain and keep proof of the removal of the goods from the UK to the customer’s address in the host country. Proof of posting is sufficient.

5 If the supply is for a contingent of British forces in Cyprus or its staff, or for a NATO visiting 42 force in Germany or its staff, the order must be placed by an Official Procurement Agency for the force, such as the NAAFI or a regimental purchasing officer.

So Amazon may be concerned that the items are not getting delivered to the right place or are receving 'fake' certificate forms or fake BFPO documents and so by getting a proper signature they are assuring themselves the transaction is legit.

I've not heard of anything like this before so I'll have a chat with some of my colleagues, but looking at the actual guidance from HMRC (as above), there is no legal requirement to provide signatures.

oscardog

It seems as though Amazon are getting all the wires crossed.

I told them we can get a Certificate of Entitlement from our unit but NOT from BFPO.

I see what it now means about Procurement / Purchasing Officer. That is for items to be used by the unit or "contingent". But this is surely not relevant to individuals?

It seems they are asking for the impossible for individual purchases by confusing the rules for let us call them "wider use purchases".

The trouble is they are deaf to my points and keep hiding behind the ridiculous email that they keep sending.

spinks

I received a similar email after requesting my most recent VAT refund but it doesn't mention anything about a procurement or purchasing officer having to be involved.

According to the tax office we now have to complete a BFG form 60 and send to Customs & Immigration who will return a BFG Form 80 which we must then take back to the tax office along with the invoice from Amazon, pay our EUR3.00 administration fee and then they will issue our certificate of entitlement that we then have to send to Amazon to get the VAT refunded.

It is complete madness :mad:

bargainboy

spinks wrote: »

I received a similar email after requesting my most recent VAT refund but it doesn't mention anything about a procurement or purchasing officer having to be involved.

According to the tax office we now have to complete a BFG form 60 and send to Customs & Immigration who will return a BFG Form 80 which we must then take back to the tax office along with the invoice from Amazon, pay our EUR3.00 administration fee and then they will issue our certificate of entitlement that we then have to send to Amazon to get the VAT refunded.

It is complete madness :mad:

this is true, i have just started the process its pretty much the same as BFG'ing a car now. it is a long process and will take a few weeks but if you want tax back then this is the way to do it.
a pain i know and it may be a way of putting us off claiming so it may be worth waiting till you have a few things to buy.

The tax office will allow you to use 1 form per outstanding tax rebate rather than 1 per order.
also you can only claim back from Amazon itself and not individual sellers.

oscardog

Andy2909 wrote: »

Hi all,

I've also had this message.

As it was asking for proof of delivery; I emailed them requesting the VAT refund & asked them to check their invoices to see where they posted the items too, this should provide all the proof they needed of delivery to BFPO. I then went on to say, as the item was delivered to me at BFPO this surley shows I'm entitled. Could I please receive my tax refund?

They did refund me straight away, no more questions. I did this email, after I friend of mine advised me too, as its what he did. I've heard however of one person, still being fobbed off....must just be the jobs-worth on the other end!

Good luck & all the best. Merry Xmas to all.

Well I have re-requested the refund citing your terminology.

Lets see what happens!!

zappahey

Andy2909 wrote: »

I then went on to say, as the item was delivered to me at BFPO this surley shows I'm entitled.

It doesn't prove you're entitled. I can use BFPO but I don't have entitlement to tax-free goods.

oscardog

Jesus these people are a nightmare. I am bouncing between call centres in Manila and India. No-one knows what to do then out of the blue a call centre operator says no worries - I will refund it for you now!!!!

Job done but what a bloody saga.

Makes me hesitant to buy anything substantial.

Michael_Corleone

I would suggest using the customs forms BFG60 to obtain a BFG80 (Germany obv) then send them to amazon. You can get the forms from your mess or RSU.

debtfreein2009

You need to complete a form BFG 60 and willl get a stamped BFG80 in return. You then need to apply with invoices and the F80 to obtain the 1510, which can then be sent to amazon for the refund. Amazon won't accept a BFG80 as proof of entitlement. It's a very long winded process and has a 2month time limit and will cost you €3 for 1510 form too. Unless you've spent a fortune, it may well not be worth the effort. Hope this helps.

Alias_Omega

Please use this thread to discuss the methods for complying with Amazon's new rules regarding VAT refunds on BFPO addresses.

Taken from Amazon here -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=502576#refunds

VAT refunds for orders sent to BFPO and FCO addresses

• We can refund VAT on items sold by Amazon.co.uk and sent to BFPO and FCO addresses, as long as the address is located outside of the United Kingdom. Please note that if the item was sold by an Amazon.co.uk Marketplace seller, you will need to contact your seller via e-mail
• BFPO Addresses based outside of the EU: In order to request a VAT refund for a BFPO address outside of the EU, please e-mail us once your order has been dispatched. Remember to include the order number with your request.
• BFPO Addresses based within the EU: Before we can issue a VAT refund for an order dispatched to a BFPO address which is within the EU, UK VAT legislation requires us to obtain a "certificate of entitlement" confirming that the items have been shipped to and received by a qualifying body or person as set out in paragraph 14.2 of HM Revenue and Customs Notice 725 dated December 2009. Amazon will accept a copy of the order receipt which was dispatched with the item(s), signed and stamped by the head or acting head of the embassy, high commission, consulate, visiting force contingent or international organisation, with evidence of the official status of the signatory.
  For goods which are shipped to BFPO customers in Cyprus or Germany, Amazon requires a certificate from the person placing the order uniquely identifying the supply for which relief is claimed, and claiming entitlement as follows:
  
  - for British forces in Cyprus - under Article 14(1)(g) of EC Council Directive 77/388/EEC, or
  - for a visiting force in Germany - under Article 15(10) of EC Council Directive 77/388/EEC.
  Amazon requires this certificate in accordance with Section 14 of HM Revenue and Customs Notice 725 dated December 2009. If this certificate is not supplied, Amazon cannot make a refund.
  Please send the stamped receipt or certificate, quoting all the qualifying order numbers for which VAT has not been refunded to:
  
  Charge Enquiries Department
  Amazon Customer Services Ireland
  Unit 27, 6400 Cork Airport Business Park
  Kinsale Road
  Cork
  Ireland

Regards,

Alias