Tax refund at stansted

dollypeeps

We flew from Stansted 10th August 2018.

We flew to Orlando.

I purchased items in Boots for £68.00.

I asked at the till what about tax and was told we don’t do
the tax refunds, shut the till and walked off.

Tbh I should’ve pursued it but was gobsmacked bynher attitude
so left it....

I’ve since read reports that Boots and Whs have been a
a little unscrupulous but have now changed their ways.

Am I entitled to have had my goods tax free?

The one report I read seems to suggest this.
When I emailed Boots customer services the email
was worded in such a way that a refund can be obtained
but only for overseas/foreign travellers or non uk
residents.

I’m a little confused ...

Would any of you lovely money savers have an answer?

Regards

bradders1983

dollypeeps wrote: »

We flew from Stansted 10th August 2018.

We flew to Orlando.

I purchased items in Boots for £68.00.

I asked at the till what about tax and was told we don’t do
the tax refunds, shut the till and walked off.

Tbh I should’ve pursued it but was gobsmacked bynher attitude
so left it....

I’ve since read reports that Boots and Whs have been a
a little unscrupulous but have now changed their ways.

Am I entitled to have had my goods tax free?

The one report I read seems to suggest this.
When I emailed Boots customer services the email
was worded in such a way that a refund can be obtained
but only for overseas/foreign travellers or non uk
residents.

I’m a little confused ...

Would any of you lovely money savers have an answer?

Regards

Well the simple question here is: which country are you a resident of? It only applies generally if you are a non-EU resident

If everyone was entitled to the discount it would be taken off at source. The lady in Boots was right but of course it doesnt excuse her attitude and should have given you the form, you have to apply for the refund separately so you pay the normal price and get the difference back afterwards once you put your claim in.

Also, the system applies to all shopping in the UK, not just that in an airport:

https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-shopping/taxfree-shopping

dollypeeps

bradders1983 wrote: »

Well the simple question here is: which country are you a resident of? It only applies generally if you are a non-EU resident

If everyone was entitled to the discount it would be taken off at source. The lady in Boots was right but of course it doesnt excuse her attitude and should have given you the form, you have to apply for the refund separately so you pay the normal price and get the difference back afterwards once you put your claim in.

Also, the system applies to all shopping in the UK, not just that in an airport:

https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-shopping/taxfree-shopping

Thank for your reply

I’m a uk resident so no it doesn’t apply which was
inferred in the email from Boots...

I must’ve misread previous reports which stated that
airport stores even though they ask for boarding card
were keeping the tax for themselves and not mentioning
about residency...

Thank you again

bradders1983

That is a totally different issue than claiming VAT back as a non-EU resident, I am afraid.

That issue with the boarding cards is over shops in airport claiming VAT back from HMRC

https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/982494/martin-lewis-money-saving-expert-boarding-pass-duty-free-airport

Showing it or not showing it wont get you a cheaper price I'm afraid. The only benefit is to the airport shop who can claim it back, none that I know of are passing the saving onto the consumer.

The link I posted earlier in my 1st post is for non-EU residents to claim VAT back from HMRC for any shopping (not in airports, but any normal shopping on high streets etc...) they do in the UK.

londoninvestor

Didn't Boots actually start paying refunds to EU passengers flying outside the EU though? (Not because they are legally obliged to, but because of being shamed by MSE amongst others...)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/boots-refund-vat-boarding-passes-airports/

Telegraph wrote:

Asif Aziz, Boots director of airport stores, said: “Over the past year we’ve been carrying out a comprehensive review of VAT relief concession at these stores, to find the right solution to meet customers’ needs, while keeping our prices the same great value as in our high street stores.

“We have introduced a new scheme in which customers travelling outside the EU will not pay VAT on VAT-able items which are priced at or above £5.”

unholyangel

bradders1983 wrote: »

That is a totally different issue than claiming VAT back as a non-EU resident, I am afraid.

That issue with the boarding cards is over shops in airport claiming VAT back from HMRC

https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/982494/martin-lewis-money-saving-expert-boarding-pass-duty-free-airport

Showing it or not showing it wont get you a cheaper price I'm afraid. The only benefit is to the airport shop who can claim it back, none that I know of are passing the saving onto the consumer.

The link I posted earlier in my 1st post is for non-EU residents to claim VAT back from HMRC for any shopping (not in airports, but any normal shopping on high streets etc...) they do in the UK.

Strictly speaking, they shouldn't be charging VAT if VAT is not chargeable and if they are charging VAT they should be passing it on to HMRC rather than using it to offset their overheads. Either VAT is due on a purchase or it isn't. If its not due then they shouldn't be charging it in the first place. They could of course opt to up their prices to account for this and that would be fine - as long as they're not collecting VAT on sales where VAT isn't chargeable.

However this article seems to indicate boots will remove the VAT from certain transaction - and at the time of the transaction (no form filling and waiting to claim it back).

Boots has a similar proposition, but it applies to single items costing £5 or more. For example, a passenger buying a packet of three condoms costing £2.99 would not qualify, but someone buying a £9.99 packet of 12 would (though the saving would be only 48p, due to the lower VAT rate on contraceptives).

The goods and boarding pass are scanned at the till, and any discount refunded before payment.

Note that many items sold by these stores, from paperbacks to nappies, are zero-rated, and therefore no tax will be handed back on such purchases.

londoninvestor

unholyangel wrote: »

Strictly speaking, they shouldn't be charging VAT if VAT is not chargeable and if they are charging VAT they should be passing it on to HMRC rather than using it to offset their overheads. Either VAT is due on a purchase or it isn't. If its not due then they shouldn't be charging it in the first place. They could of course opt to up their prices to account for this and that would be fine - as long as they're not collecting VAT on sales where VAT isn't chargeable.

I'm sure it's that they up their prices, and it's legal, but sneaky because they aren't (or weren't) forthcoming with the customer.

So they sell Diet Coke for (say) £1.50 ex-VAT, £1.80 inc VAT to passengers flying to Florence. They sell it for £1.80 VAT-free to passengers flying to Florida.

Because the price on the shelf just has to show the final price to the consumer, it just says £1.80, with no indication that Boots makes more money out of the Florida passenger.

All that said, they did claim they were mending their ways for items over £5, by giving a discount to passengers leaving the EU, equivalent to the VAT they would have paid within the EU.

So @dollypeeps - perhaps you want to get back in touch with Boots customer services, challenge them with the Telegraph and Independent links in this thread, and ask if they're no longer honouring the policy?

dollypeeps

londoninvestor wrote: »

I'm sure it's that they up their prices, and it's legal, but sneaky because they aren't (or weren't) forthcoming with the customer.



All that said, they did claim they were mending their ways for items over £5, by giving a discount to passengers leaving the EU, equivalent to the VAT they would have paid within the EU.

This was my understanding originally, although the more I read the more confused I become :rotfl:!!! I'm sure that I didn't pay tax on a transaction at boots when we flew from LHR in October. However that receipt is long gone....
So @dollypeeps - perhaps you want to get back in touch with Boots customer services, challenge them with the Telegraph and Independent links in this thread, and ask if they're no longer honouring the policy?

Thinking that this maybe the way to go ....

Thank you

londoninvestor

Good luck!