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 p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK! | |
From my experience buying from the Leica Store in person in Munich, when you leave the country via the airport, there are two methods for VAT refund. There's the usual procedure where before going through security you take your bags to the customs office, they ask some questions and stamp your tax rebate forms. You then head over to the VAT refund kiosk, hand over those forms and they give you a partial refund of the VAT (it's a third party that provides this as a 'service' and they take a cut), which might only be about half of what you paid in VAT.
The other option is for full VAT refund, but it's not as convenient. I only did this a couple times, but it worked without any hassle. You go through the usual check-in and go through security and regular customs. Once inside the secure area, you look for the customs office and bring them your paperwork and the item(s) being exported. They will want to see the item(s), therefore, you can't put them in your checked luggage, which would have already been checked in (and which for photo equipment you likely wouldn't want to do anyway). In my cases, it didn't matter that I'd already opened the boxes and used the items. They just wanted to see it and the serial numbers. There might be a distinction between general 'durable' goods and consumables. But camera equipment would not be considered a consumable. I'm not an EU resident either, so maybe as suggested earlier, there are some different considerations if an EU resident was exporting an item (to prove they didn't befit from using for some time before export). The catch with this option is that the customs office only stamps your paperwork that the item has been exported. They do not refund the VAT on the spot. You are required to collect the refund from the store where you purchased the item. Of course, you're now 'out of the country' and can't go back to claim that refund. The Munich Leica store said I could either wait until my next visit (I don't recall if there was a time limit), send the paperwork to a friend or relative and have them collect the refund in person (the option I selected), or send the paperwork to them to refund onto a credit card (but you should confirm if this option is available). This is the 'inconvenient' part of this refund option. But you get the full VAT refund, eventually.
I didn't know about the second option before my dealings with the Munich Leica Store and had always used the regular tourist VAT refund service with only a partial refund. They were well versed in this topic, I assume because of the many international customers they deal with.
You could also check prices in Japan, although Leica pricing has always been high there. Other products, such as Zeiss and Voigtlander can be considerably less, but the hassle is finding an online store that will ship internationally. In person purchases though are generally a breeze. From my experience at the larger stores like Map or Yodobashi, was that the store deducted VAT at time of purchase. Therefore it was not necessary to collect a refund at the airport. And apparently now all of the paperwork is processed electronically.
Considering some of the price differences, whether in the EU or elsewhere, if combining a number of items, the savings could cover the cost of the flight there! But of course the biggest savings is to buy online and have it shipped to you.
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