Looky here, it's our German supernova Raffe! Let me help you with this one since English isn't your first language, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/de...hypothetically
I didn't realise that my post would have people reaching for the tinfoil...
No one is suggesting a global information exchange, Interpol involvement, Skynet or anything along those lines although with that said APIS is very much alive & well. The fact is that certain flights, from certain countries at certain times of day will always be targeted for various different things, things that I'm not going to go into so you'll just have to use your [vivid] imaginations.
If I worked for Border Force, and I do mean if, and I wanted a "quick win" I would approach the likes of Watches of Switzerland at T5 requesting information gleaned from the boarding passes of passengers with return tickets to the UK travelling to non-UE countries who had made a purchase. I'm not suggesting that this is what is going on or how such an operation would be sustainable in the long term, but it's what I'd do.
The stupid thing is that irregularly seizing heroin probably doesn't bring in half as much revenue as regularly seizing things like the alcohol, cigarettes from regular holidaymakers walking off of bucket & spade flights...
Looky here, it's our German supernova Raffe! Let me help you with this one since English isn't your first language, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/de...hypothetically
I was shown the documentation.
If you attempt to go any more Perry Mason on me and I respond with further information then I might as well tell you exactly how I know, who it was that told me & why, and kiss goodbye to the ability to pay my mortgage and them theirs.
It's worth it though right...?
Yes, and what happens when you are flying ex-Eu and buy a watch from T5 is that you pay a discounted price EQUIVALENT to VAT off (ie 16.666666666667% less than high street). But in that discounted price you have paid UK vat and will receive a receipt showing same. These are facts.
Mathematical example.
UK retail price including VAT is £12000
Buy at T5 and you will pay 100/120 x £12000 = £10,000 total - the equivalent of VAT off.
However, your receipt will show that you have paid
£10,000 x 100/120 = £8,333 for the product and the remainder in VAT, which, if my maths are correct will work itself out to...
£10,000-£8,333 = £1,667
As if by magic... £1667/£8333 x100 = 20% I.e the UK VAT rate. So you have paid full UK vat on your purchase and customs can go f**k themselves.
I believe this only applies if you fly to EU destinations. If you fly outside, it becomes regular duty-free merchandise and they don't charge VAT - so any re-entry into the UK of the goods is VAT-able.
It would also apply if you bought the watch outside of the EU and travelled into the UK.
Someone who lies about the little things will lie about the big things too.
Someone who lies about the little things will lie about the big things too.
I don’t know about flying out to China to stay, because I have never done that so don’t have that experience. I am talking about flying out of the EU on holiday and then returning to the UK, which is the scenario envisaged by MST’s post. I have no idea about vat reclaiming on permanantly leaving the country. Also, try getting a waiting list watch from T5.
Enjoying (some) of the posts on this and is really helpful to a Newbie. Do any of you have any advice or opinion on how currency fluctuations affect the Rolex Boutiques. I guess I was thinking in terms of Sterling dropping against the Euro after Brexit, and other countries that move a little more quickly like S. Africa. Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere, I did have a quick look beforehand and I thought one or two of you might know. Am gearing up for my first purchase.
Someone who lies about the little things will lie about the big things too.
I dont know if they would deal with it differently for non-UK domiciles (they do ask to see your passport) but in MSTs scenario I have experience and went to great lengths to understand the situation because my first run at it was the Platona and I REALLY didnt want to risk getting stung on that. I then did the same with a DD40 in August last year and a DJ36 a fortnight ago.
There are definitely more stringent checks going on these days and not just at airports but also at road crossings at EU borders. I have driven many times and all the Swiss have ever wanted in the past was to sell the motorway vignette. EU side, never ever stopped or asked any questions before. This time it was different and when crossing between Switzerland and EU, they always stopped us to ask if we had anything to declare - we didnt when entering Switzerland but did when leaving. In this case, it would have been easy for the Austrians to check if I hadnt declared ... I had handed over the tax-free form to the Swiss customs office just a few minutes ago and Im sure they talk to each other.
Raffe, your confusion is completely understandable. There is so much utter BS spouted in these threads that I even start second guessing myself and checking my purchase receipts! All I can say is that in my experience with Rolex T5 you get a discount equivalent to Vat if you are flying ex-EU and returning to the UK, and bugger-all if you are flying within the EU. That experience does extend to the purchase of 3 watches over a c.18 month period and most recently being a fortnight ago. Those purchases were preceded by some considerable correspondence with Rolex T5 to make sure I understood the situation and didn’t risk getting hit for £8,400 VAT on the way home from Bergen. That’s all I can usefully contribute.
To be honest I was even a bit worried coming back with two watches from Tenerife even though bought were bought in the EU and accompanied me to the canaries. Visited a Rolex AD in Playa Las Amaericas but nothing of interest there was hoping for an explorer ii but the only had the black GMT and a shedload of pm datejust's. :(
Anyway nobody stopped us on the way out and didn't notice anyone being stopped on a jam-packed flight back during half-term.
Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk
That was always the case. I believe that confusion present in this thread arose from the fact that Gassen at Schipol (unlike Heathrow) offer discounts equal to VAT to passengers flying to EU destinations. Whether those flying externally can get a discount and then claim VAT, I don't know and I don't think so but I'm happy to be told otherwise.
I was told by Gassan Schiphol that if youre flying to a non-EU destination, it is tax free price i.e. VAT is not included. If flying to an EU destination, they give a discount equivalent to what VAT would have been at RRP but VAT is still included in the reduced price. In that case they call it (or at least used to call it) see-buy-fly price as opposed to tax-free price. Going by this, people flying ex EU should not be able to claim back VAT as they havent paid it in the first place.
From my reading of various threads on this subject it is only Shipol who offer this discount flying within EU. All other EU airports its full RRP.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Last time I passed through CDG airport I visited the high end watch shop and tried on a JLC Reverso. When I told the sales assistant that I thought the price was high she immediately said prices are negotiable. I didn't buy, but she gave me a business card and asked me to call before returning through CDG on my way home to see if they could help me. (Not sure if that applied to Rolex as well, which they do sell) So, always work asking in EU airport shops imo.
Having spent some time reading this thread, I am not much wiser, I am totally confussed over the vat liability.
If I purchase at T5 on a long haul flight then the watch is discounted but still shows vat on reciept, therefore no vat to pay on return ?? only import duty ??
Whereas if I purchase overseas and claim the vat back at point of departure then there is vat to be paid on return ??
Neither VAT nor import duty. You bought a discounted watch and that is the end of it.
Yes, both VAT and import duty (though the latter is so small, that it is hardly ever collected). In fact, you even have to pay UK VAT if you didn't claim back foreign VAT at your port of departure.
Someone who lies about the little things will lie about the big things too.
Yes and No!
Yes to the outside purchaser it looks like everyone is paying the same amount as if travellers me within the EU your watch is discounted by an equivalent amount of the VAT and there is no come back from customs with this watch as all fees and charges have been settled.
No I if you are travelling outside of the EU then you do pay a duty free price as you do not need to pay any VAT. It is more of an accountancy issue for the retailer. As if they did not and your receipt shows VAT the ex-EU purchaser would be well within their rights to claim back any VAT that has been paid even if the watch has been discounted at the POS.
In the end both purchasers have the same price but one of them could have issues with travelling back into the EU!
This is why your boarding card details are required for the retailer being able to record accurate VAT payments.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I am sure this has never actually happened, and they have no way to target anyone watch buyers at airports. How many thousands of people come into LHR every day you recon they can spot people who have got a watch abroad. Total rubbish. Bags are not scanned on arrivals either so no way they would know and cant see the departure country caring enough to spot a watch box they have bigger fish to fry with drugs, bombs etc. I cant imagine any security scanning employees have watch boxes as a high risk item to spot.
I spoke to T4 over the phone just last week about a Datejust when I go to the states.
The guy said if you leave the EU you dont pay the VAT but declare it on your return. They dont allow you to discount it down to pay the VAT on the lower price.
If within the EU, you pay full whack.
Only Schipo discount inside the EU.
Dont shoot the messenger!
Don't worry Raffe, it's not your fault. It wasn't the first time, it won't be the last time. As Bruno sings "That's just the way you are".
See, I told you it wouldn't be the last time. Again, since you're slow on the uptake: if you buy from T5 or any Heathrow terminal there are no discounts, you pay the full price. Unless you travel ex EU when you get full VAT deduction. But if you buy at Schipol (since this is a thread about Schipol) you are getting a discount which equals to VAT even if you fly within EU.
Referring to yourself as "we" is a symptom of what medical profession refers to as schizophrenia. I might be wrong, since I don't work in the field but I have it on good authority that you might want to get it checked before it's too late.
PS and just as a reminder since you might have forgotten already - no you don't get a discount at Heathrow when you fly within EU. But you do at Schipol.
PSS "Ta ta", mate you're soooo British, I see you was watching Fawlty Towers on RTL when you was younger!
Well... I tried.
So good to see you were able to come to terms with this fact (fact that everyone was aware of already). Being honest about your own weaknesses is going to make your life much more bearable. It won't make you brighter but hey, you can't have everything in life!
PS just as a refresher no you can't get a discount at Heathrow. You can at Schipol.
Another, alternate, view to the scare mongering here on what activities are, or is not, employed by UK Border Control.
Do you not think that in the times we currently live in that these good folks have got FAR better things to worry about (ISIS/Bombs/Guns/Drugs etc) than someone bringing back a watch purchase he, or she, might have got some kind of discount/tax advantage when purchasing it?
I'm not saying one should "dodge" any legitimate tax payment due but, please, a reality check would be in order for some here! As you were....
I know English isn't your first language and all English films and tv series are dubbed in German so it's hard to learn but surely by now you would have grasped the language to an extent allowing you to ad 1 + 1 and end up with 2? Unless, you really are this special Raffe?
PS isht, I forgot to add the refresher bit. But it would have been lost on you anyway haha.