Eu vat refund

davelerave

i asked a similar question here recently but haven't sorted this out yet.i understood from pixmania(an online electronics company) that they would refund the vat to me.

from their website faq:
"Do you refund VAT?
We do refund VAT if you / your company have an EU registered VAT number. However, we do not offer the TAX-FREE form for non-EU citizens to claim back VAT after leaving the EU."

however when i tried to claim a refund they said they operate under french law and can only refund vat to uk companies .is this true and is there any other way of reclaiming the vat.thanks.

Nuttzz

sounds like BS, once you have a EU VAT number you should be "good to go"

Kinetic^

Nuttzz wrote:

sounds like BS, once you have a EU VAT number you should be "good to go"

I'm nearly sure that they shouldn't have charged you VAT in the first place.

If it was a VAT regiestered company/person from Ireland invoicing a VAT registered company/person in France then no VAT would be charged. (I'll double check it for you when I get home, but I'm 99% sure thats the way it works).

BrianD

Pixmania will not refund you the VAT. You will have to claim it back of the French Revenue and that is probably not worth the hassle. Unless they are willing to credit you and re-invoice you less the VAT.

Kinetic^

BrianD wrote:

Pixmania will not refund you the VAT. You will have to claim it back of the French Revenue and that is probably not worth the hassle. Unless they are willing to credit you and re-invoice you less the VAT.

Surely that is breaking some sort of law??

I've heard alot of people on here buying stuff from them, would you all not join together and make somebody aware of this as you are all throwing money down the drain (if you're VAT registered that is).

kluivert

An Irish company importing or buying products or services within the EU should not be charged foreign vat on that product.

The company has overcharged you and you should seek a refund from the company. If you should have no luck with this state to them that you will be writing a letter of complaint to their local tax authority notify them of incorrect operation of vat.

Also you should threaten to notified their national consumer board shoudl they have one.

BrianD

Of course it is the responsibility of the vat registered company to flag this up in advance of placing the order.

davelerave

i normally would arrange a vat-free sale in advance but i understood from their website faq that they would refund the vat later and i had received a refund from them previously a number of years ago
pixmania faq:http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/faq.html

SouperComputer

when purchasing within the EU, VAT relief is ment to be available at source. Of course this is assuming both companies have a VAT Reg number.

BrianD

davelerave wrote:

i normally would arrange a vat-free sale in advance but i understood from their website faq that they would refund the vat later and i had received a refund from them previously a number of years ago
pixmania faq:http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/faq.html

Nobody does it this way. It is time consuming for everyone. They might be chancing their arm that you will forget to request a refund or simply won't be bothered to do it. It would want to be in the €1000's before you would put somebody on the case. Declare your intention up front, even if this means that you have to order by fax or phone instead of online.