VAT refund for non EU-Country resident

[Digifreak]

Hello Everyone.

I live in Switzerland, and I want to buy the Valve Index, but they dont ship to Switzerland. Luckily i live near the german border. I could change my Account to Germany and send it to a "PO Box" in Germany and take it over the Border.

Now my Question is: Is it possible to get a "refund" on the VAT that i pay for the Index? Because as a non-resident of the EU, i have a right to get VAT back.

I searched on the Internet and Steam page, but didnt find anything helpfull. So im asking here in hope someone knows more

[Satoru]

But you're not shipping it as an end customer to Swizterland

You're shipping it to Germany where VAT applies

Also enjoy tarrifs and VAT when your index lands in Swizterland

[Digifreak]

Originally posted by Satoru:

But you're not shipping it as an end customer to Swizterland

You're shipping it to Germany where VAT applies

On some Online Shops its possible to ship to Germany, go to the border and get a Stamp that you took it over the border and then youre able to collect the money

[Ogami]

How exactly do you plan to pay for the Index anyway?
Because Steam requires a payment method registered to the country the store is set too.
You cant pay with a Swiss creditcard/bank account/PayPal on Steam if the shop is set to Germany.
You will get a error at logout.
And the Vive cant be bought with Steam Wallet funds.

[Digifreak]

Originally posted by Ogami:

How exactly do you plan to pay for the Index anyway?
Because Steam requires a payment method registered to the country the store is set too.
You cant pay with a Swiss creditcard/bank account/PayPal on Steam if the shop is set to Germany.
You will get a error at logout.
And the Vive cant be bought with Steam Wallet funds.

i was able to buy the Steam controller, changed my location to Germany and used Paypal with a German address.

[Kargor]

Originally posted by Digifreak:

Now my Question is: Is it possible to get a "refund" on the VAT that i pay for the Index? Because as a non-resident of the EU, i have a right to get VAT back.

I'm not a lawyer, but I doubt this is handled by shops themselves. They can't really expect every store cashier to be a tax expert, can they?

There's probably some procedure to get it back some other way; there must be a reason why bills and stuff always tell you the amount payed.

[RiO]

Originally posted by Ogami:

Steam requires a payment method registered to the country the store is set too.
You cant pay with a Swiss creditcard/bank account/PayPal on Steam if the shop is set to Germany.

Huh. That's interesting. Does that apply within the EU as well? Because I wonder if that is actually compatible with EU legislation meant to harmonize the internal market.

(Or rather: European legislation, because iirc some non-EU European countries - like Switzerland is - opt in to some of that legislation as well.)

[󠀡󠀡󠀡⁧⁧the.jester]

It's a rather convoluted process requiring obtaining an export certificate and then getting it stamped at customs before you leave Germany.

The final decision as to the refund is actually be made by the store the product is bought from, ie. Valve.

[Satoru]

Originally posted by RiO:

Originally posted by Ogami:

Steam requires a payment method registered to the country the store is set too.
You cant pay with a Swiss creditcard/bank account/PayPal on Steam if the shop is set to Germany.

Huh. That's interesting. Does that apply within the EU as well? Because I wonder if that is actually compatible with EU legislation meant to harmonize the internal market.

(Or rather: European legislation, because iirc some non-EU European countries - like Switzerland is - opt in to some of that legislation as well.)

Pricing within the EU is consistent now (before there were 3 'tiers' of EU pricing but that was removed) so within the EU using Euro it doesn't functionally matter

[Satoru]

Originally posted by the.jester:

It's a rather convoluted process requiring obtaining an export certificate and then getting it stamped at customs before you leave Germany.

The final decision as to the refund is actually be made by the store the product is bought from, ie. Valve.

Valve isnt shipping it to Swizterland as such its not reponsible for whatever the OP does with it once it lands in Germany

The OP seems to also forget that even if they get VAT, they'll be subject to tarrifs AND MORE VAT once the Index crosses the border

[Digifreak]

Originally posted by Satoru:

Originally posted by the.jester:

It's a rather convoluted process requiring obtaining an export certificate and then getting it stamped at customs before you leave Germany.

The final decision as to the refund is actually be made by the store the product is bought from, ie. Valve.

Valve isnt shipping it to Swizterland as such its not reponsible for whatever the OP does with it once it lands in Germany

The OP seems to also forget that even if they get VAT, they'll be subject to tarrifs AND MORE VAT once the Index crosses the border

Amazon also doesnt ship to Switzerland, but you can Purchase and send it to Germany, at the border, you can go to customs, let it stamp that you took it over the border, send Amazon the stamped receipt and get the VAT back.

If i pay the VAT of Switzerland and get the VAT of Germany back it still would be cheaper: Germany has a VAT of 19% and Switzerland 7.7%