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BFPO VAT back Overseas-Amazon

Hello. This is quite a strange one, I was hoping I could find someone somewhere who could help!

I'm currently abroad in Falkland islands. Due to being at an Overseas postcode, we are entitled to claim VAT back on certain goods.

Amazon are usually very good for this. I order something, I send an email to their VAT returns team, the VAT gets paid back to me. Job done.

Now unfortunately, due to the amazon website being very confusing I ordered a product from an independent seller on amazon. At the stage I realised I sent them this chain of questions, please read below

Me to Seller - Hi there, I didn't even realise I was buying this from an independant seller thanks to Amazon website being absolutely terrible. Anyway, I was hoping to get tax refund as I'm at a BFPO address. Is that possible with this item? If not I may have to cancel :( Kind regards,

Seller Back -
Hi, We would have to send the phone as priced and you will have to claim back your tax refund.

Me to seller -
Thanks ok I'll do the usual tax request via amazon once you have dispatched and hopefully this will be fine?

Them to me -
hello, yes thats fine

Then once dispatched I emailed Amazon the usual way to claim VAT back. They sent the usual hoo-hah to the seller.

Hello, We've been contacted by one of our mutual customers regarding an order placed with you. Below is the information provided by the customer: Order number: 202-6530295-0052306 Item: Samsung S8 64GB SIM-Free Smartphone - Orchid Grey (SM-G950F) Reason for contact: Returns & Refunds Details: Hello, We're contacting you to let you know that the buyer of order # 202-6530295-0052306 has requested a VAT refund. Can you please provide your buyer with the VAT refund if you are required to do so by law? If you are not required to do so, please contact your buyer advising them of this. If you're unsure as to whether or not you're required to provide a VAT refund to your buyer, we suggest you contact your tax advisor. Amazon is unable to provide you with any legal or tax advice. For information on how to contact your buyer, please read the following: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html/?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200389090 Thank you for selling on Amazon.co.uk. To respond to this customer, please reply to this e-mail or visit your seller account at the following link: [link removed] We hope you're able to work this out with this customer. Sincerely, Customer Service Department Amazon.co.uk http://www.amazon.co.uk


To which they finally replied .


Hello, Customer needs to claim back VAT from HMRC not us.



Now if you see the earlier bit where they said I could claim back via Amazon, I thought I could. Do you think I have been mislead here? Or do I not have a leg to stand on...In any case, if i do have to claim vat back via HRMC, does anyone know how to go about it?

I may escalate this further with amazon as I feel i've been mislead with the 'yes that is fine email'.

Comments

  • Silvertabby
    Silvertabby Posts: 8,969
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    edited 5 May 2018 at 1:48PM
    From Amazon's website:


    BFPO Addresses Based Outside of the EU
    To request a VAT refund for a BFPO address outside of the EU, please [EMAIL="vat-refund-requests@amazon.co.uk"]e-mail us[/EMAIL] once your order has been dispatched. Remember to include the order number with your request. You'll need to contact us within 3 months of the time of the supply of goods.

    For sales by Marketplace sellers, whether enrolled into Amazon's Tax Calculation Service or not, you'll need to contact your Seller directly to ask for a VAT refund.
    Is this any help?

    Plus this?

    https://www.fig.gov.fk/treasury/taxation/quick-links/value-added-tax
  • Trigcxx
    Trigcxx Posts: 1
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    Newbie
    Be careful with this, I believe if you’ve claimed the VAT back and then are stopped at customs, you would be liable for import duty on the item.
  • Hi, I have a question regarding VAT when deployed out of EU. If I was to book flights/holiday whilst deployed can you claim VAT/TAX back... cheeky I know but I need to book them asap.

    Thanks in advance.
  • okidoodle
    okidoodle Posts: 40 Forumite
    Be careful with this, I believe if you’ve claimed the VAT back and then are stopped at customs, you would be liable for import duty on the item.

    Theoretically yes, but in practice when you have been on a longer posting and the item has already been in use it's highly unlikely. My husband did this with a £900 camera when he was in Afghanistan - he was using it out there and claimed the vat back from Amazon.
    If you're flying back via Brize they aren't likely to be checking the value of your personal belongings and when you bought them. If you are going back through a commercial airport it's more likely, but they target the flights from the USA where they know people go for shopping sprees. Port Stanley is not widely known as a retail paradise...
  • unforeseen
    unforeseen Posts: 7,271
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    Port Stanley is not widely known as a retail paradise...
    it is when you've spent the last 3 months on a mountain site :rotfl:
  • Silvertabby
    Silvertabby Posts: 8,969
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    Forumite
    Port Stanley is not widely known as a retail paradise...
    unforeseen wrote: »
    it is when you've spent the last 3 months on a mountain site :rotfl:

    Only those of us who have done a tour of duty in the Falklands will know what you mean by that !
  • I would just send the item back (if you can) and order via Amazon. I also had this issue and the seller refused to sort it so it was just more hassle.
This discussion has been closed.
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