Is there any way to recover taxes paid while on holiday in the states?

tickietockie

Hi,

This is my first post so please be patient with me if I don't get it quite right!

I have just returned from a 10 day holiday in Las Vegas and New York and obviously bought a few items when I was there. In one store, we were advised that all taxes we paid excluding food and drink could be recovered and we would receive a form on the plane home but we never received anything and I'm now stuck as to whether or not we can get these back.

Please can someone shed some light on this matter for me.

Thank you.

richardw

How much were the taxes?

kelloggs36

is it the same sort of scheme that we have here where non-EU people can claim back tax? I would be interested as I am off to Florida later in the year.

littlereddevil

If I remember correctly ( and maybe I don't! ) they stopped this from the USA ages ago.

kelloggs36

From my limited research it appears that there is no such scheme:(

signol

I don't know about the USA, but if you buy things in South Africa, there is a desk in International Departures where you can show the receipts, and recieve the tax back. There is a threshhold that is quite high, though, so for most purchases it is not worth it. As you have come home already, it would be to late now.

signol

misa.blue

Hi,
there is no tax refund in US, as they don't have VAT, they have locally applied sales tax (the percentage is different in each state, county, city).

Vikki_74

They do the discount schemes in Macy's, Bloomingdales etc for overseas visitors (is it 10% off?) which I think are in part supposed to offset the sales tax for non-US residents, but never heard of an actual tax refund.

Murphy_The_Cat

I think that you can get your sales tax back in Louisiana and that some states (Delaware) don't have a sales tax, but in most cases you are treated just the same as the locals !