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Buying Duty Free


Howiepix

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I disagree.

 

This kind of deal is only available to a very small number of customers and not the general public in the normal course of their business. You don't see watch retailers, or electronic goods retailers or retailers of any other good available air-side moaning too much. I am sure the volume of sales is relatively small in overall terms.

 

If Dixons on the High Street started selling at this price, then other dealers might have something to say about it.

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I disagree.

 

This kind of deal is only available to a very small number of customers and not the general public in the normal course of their business. You don't see watch retailers, or electronic goods retailers or retailers of any other good available air-side moaning too much. I am sure the volume of sales is relatively small in overall terms.

 

If Dixons on the High Street started selling at this price, then other dealers might have something to say about it.

 

I agree with you Andy, I can't imagine too many people wandering into Dixons on their way to Costa del holiday for two weeks with the kids and accidentally spending £4000 on a new camera,

The amount of people who can afford to do this will not effect the dealers too much.

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  • 3 months later...

I will be passing through T5 on Friday, so I just checked Dixons' site to see what's on offer today.

 

No mention of Leica at all.

 

Given the discount they were offering, and the fact that the cheapest flight to Manchester would get you access to the deal (and you didn't even have to take the flight...:rolleyes:), it's not surprising that something was done about it.

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Overall, you will need to show your boarding pass to prove that your final destination is outside the EU. If you are not a UK/EU resident and go back to the country where you

live you may be subject to that country's tax ! specially if you come with a big box

you won't be unnoticed.

If you are an EU resident, and reentering, you may be subject to taxation as it will be considered as out-of-country purchase ( pretty rare and never seen but ...)

Also the other country which you're entering may bother you and ask if this is a gift or not !!

 

Vadim

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That is the whole point about the way Dixons operate at the airport. Once you are through the security gate, anyone can buy anything from them. They will even send the goods to an address in the UK.

 

This isn't duty free, it's a huge discount.

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The link below from BAA clarifies, I believe;

- duty free is available for goods being exported out of the EU. If the goods final destination is the EU, duty is payable.

- VAT is payable on all goods within the EU. For those with a destination outside the EU they can claim the VAT back by filling in the requisite forms and presenting them at the port of departure.

In this case it seems that the shop is effectively discounting the goods by the amount of VAT payable. Which seems like a good deal. The shop still has to pay VAT though. Maybe those travelling to say, the USA or Asia, could claim back the VAT paid by the shop. In theory it should be possible although practically maybe not.

BAA: Tax and Duty Free shopping

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That's true Jaap. The only loser is the tax man.

 

Which means that we are all losers in the long run...

 

I doubt this. The shops at Schiphol Airport have struck some kind of complicated deal with the tax authority. Anyway, as others have said the goods sold at Schiphol and I assume at Heathrow as well are VAT free for all destinations as far as the option of reclaiming VAT is concerned. How the tax collector gets cut into the deal, I do not know. I do know that shop personell is very eager to sell on outside EU destinations boarding passes.

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In this case it seems that the shop is effectively discounting the goods by the amount of VAT payable. Which seems like a good deal. The shop still has to pay VAT though. Maybe those travelling to say, the USA or Asia, could claim back the VAT paid by the shop. In theory it should be possible although practically maybe not.

 

In effect that is exactly what they were doing. But, if they were still paying VAT on the reduced price, anyone exporting the product from the EU would still be entitled to reclaim the VAT, just as if they'd bought the product in the High Street. So the saving to non-EU resident purchasers is huge.

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The link below from BAA clarifies, I believe;

- duty free is available for goods being exported out of the EU. If the goods final destination is the EU, duty is payable.

- VAT is payable on all goods within the EU. For those with a destination outside the EU they can claim the VAT back by filling in the requisite forms and presenting them at the port of departure.

In this case it seems that the shop is effectively discounting the goods by the amount of VAT payable. Which seems like a good deal. The shop still has to pay VAT though. Maybe those travelling to say, the USA or Asia, could claim back the VAT paid by the shop. In theory it should be possible although practically maybe not.

BAA: Tax and Duty Free shopping

 

This is exactly right; it's a discount equivalent to VAT. On a trip from London to Glasgow I bought a compact camera at a discounted rate. During that trip Dixons at T5 had four M9 bodies in stock; no lenses though. This was several months ago so no idea what the stock is nowadays. I'd just phone them.

 

Edmond

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This is exactly right; it's a discount equivalent to VAT. On a trip from London to Glasgow I bought a compact camera at a discounted rate.

 

Does you sales receipt indicate that the purchase price included VAT? Being VAT registered, being able to claim the VAT is the pertinent question for me.

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