US Resident shopping in France

[seekwul]

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Hi;

Considering picking up a new M 10 while I'm in Paris, France next month.

If the camera still comes with the Passport warranty, I assume I'll be covered if I have a problem back home - correct ?

I'm also assuming I can get VAT back on the spot, and not have to file with Global Blue or something similar - correct ? 

 

I did a forum search first but couldn't find anything applicable. If everyone could tell me how I'm wrong, I'd appreciate it... and then I can just order one locally.

 

Thanks !

[M11 for me]

Vat back on the spot? Probably not. I am not fully sure for France. In Germany this is anyway not possible (neither in Switzerland). You have to export the camera first and you get the export-confirmation at the airport. This then you have to send back to the shop that eventually sends the money onto your account.

Then be careful: At automatic desks (as in Zurich) you will be filmed (without you knowing) and at the destination airport they already wait for you . . . the data are directly forwarded to destination airport. Be sure to have the camera with you then . . . 🙂 

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[Fgcm]

Dear seekwul,

both your assumption are true.

Global Blue and it’s likes are expensive and the line at the airport can be very long.

another option is to export the camera through the ordinary custom. You save vat as well as the global blue commission.

ciao

Franco

[Fgcm]

5 minutes ago, Alex U. said:

Vat back on the spot? Probably not. 

Then be careful: At automatic desks (as in Zurich) you will be filmed (without you knowing) and at the destination airport they already wait for you . . . the data are directly forwarded to destination airport. Be sure to have the camera with you then . . . 🙂 

Switzerland isn’t a “member of the club”.

EU rules are enforced within the EU only.

[M11 for me]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb Fgcm:

Switzerland isn’t a “member of the club”.

EU rules are enforced within the EU only.

When, as a Swiss,  I buy something in Germany (i.eg an M10) and want to bring it back home to Switzerland then the german dealer can not „on the spot“ reduce the VAT. I have to go out of Germany and at the german border I have to have the export document stamped (and show the M10). An export document that - by the way - the dealer has to fill out in Germany. Subsequently I have to send the dealer back my stamped document or maybe bring it back to him (within a maximum time limit). Only now the dealer can pay the VAT that he as well claims based on the document that he has now in his hands. And in Italy it works in the same way I presume.

You are right though that I am not part of the club. But the US citisan is not either. So he is in the same situation.

However, I hope that it works for him. The VAT after all represents a high value.

[Eoin]

Just order it online from the store and have them ship it to you directly. The fact they have sold and are exporting the camera overseas means they can remove the Vat from the sale price.

Incidentally under European Consumer Law we consumers have stronger rights than the standard Leica 2 year warranty.

[Fgcm]

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Ciao Alex,

Italians do it better 😉

Here in Milano we have very many tourists coming for luxury shopping. You can have your items delivered straight to te airport, with no queue, no paperwork, and no VAT at all. The service is provided by international forwarders. It's reliable, because they generally deliver jewels and very expensive luxury goods. To them, our cameras looks pretty cheap.

Most of the shops downtown offer this service, which is cheaper than VAT refund too.

Could you immagine a rich traveller queueing for the VAT refund on a million euro diamond necklace? 

I presume a similar service is available also in Paris.

Ciao

Franco

[M11 for me]

Thre Swiss love bella Italia by the way. And in Italy there are ways for everything. Love to be there.

[Photon42]

5 hours ago, Alex U. said:

Vat back on the spot? Probably not. I am not fully sure for France. In Germany this is anyway not possible (neither in Switzerland). You have to export the camera first and you get the export-confirmation at the airport. This then you have to send back to the shop that eventually sends the money onto your account.

Then be careful: At automatic desks (as in Zurich) you will be filmed (without you knowing) and at the destination airport they already wait for you . . . the data are directly forwarded to destination airport. Be sure to have the camera with you then . . . 🙂 

Is photographic gear due to import customs / VAT in the US?

[Photon42]

9 hours ago, seekwul said:

If the camera still comes with the Passport warranty, I assume I'll be covered if I have a problem back home - correct ?

I'm also assuming I can get VAT back on the spot, and not have to file with Global Blue or something similar - correct ? 

 

I guess you end up paying more than in the US. You guys usually have the lowest prices and I heard you can easily get rid of the sales tax in a lot of states. Leica warranty is world wide, AFAIK - I had to use it once and there was zero issue with it. You do not get the VAT back on the spot. For that the good has to be stamped / declared for export (normally at the border). With that document in hand, you can retrieve the France VAT - either at an French border export office (which certainly then is either closed or has long waiting queues) or through quite expensive agencies such as GlobalBlue.

[Guest Nowhereman]

There is no import duty on still camera equipment in the US and there is not VAT. 

The process of VAT refund in France for a non-resident of the EU is a lot simpler then described in post #2. When you buy the goods in a shop the seller fills out a VAT refund form for you, with your passport number and the details of the purchase and the amount of VAT to be refunded, which I believe is 19% if I recall correctly.The simplest thing is to pay by credit card and the VAT refund fill be credited to your card after the seller receives the form stamped by customs: at CDG Airport there are "Détaxe" (VAT refund) counters where the form is stamped and placed in the envelope, which is either postage-free or already has a stamp on — and you simply drop the envelope in a post box next to the counters. Sometimes the customs officer will ask to see what you purchased. In the past, sometimes there were huge queues at the détaxe counters, but the process has become much more efficient in the last few years.
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[Guest Nowhereman]

15 minutes ago, Photon42 said:

I guess you end up paying more than in the US. You guys usually have the lowest prices...

That has not been my experience: the M9-P, MM and M10 that I bought at one of the Leica stores were each about $1,000 cheaper, ex-VAT, than in the US. Also the Summaron-M 1:5.6/28 that I bought online from a UK dealer, when none were available in the US, was about $500 cheaper than the US price.

[Guest JMF]

34 minutes ago, Nowhereman said:

There is no import duty on still camera equipment in the US and there is not VAT. 

The process of VAT refund in France for a non-resident of the EU is a lot simpler then described in post #2. When you buy the goods in a shop the seller fills out a VAT refund form for you, with your passport number and the details of the purchase and the amount of VAT to be refunded, which I believe is 19% if I recall correctly.The simplest thing is to pay by credit card and the VAT refund fill be credited to your card after the seller receives the form stamped by customs: at CDG Airport there are "Détaxe" (VAT refund) counters where the form is stamped and placed in the envelope, which is either postage-free or already has a stamp on — and you simply drop the envelope in a post box next to the counters. Sometimes the customs officer will ask to see what you purchased. In the past, sometimes there were huge queues at the détaxe counters, but the process has become much more efficient in the last few years.
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When you fill the bar coded detaxe form at the shop in France, you have to choose if you will want to get your VAT refund 

 in cash  = 10% or credited back to your credit card = 12% .

You won't get the full 19% VAT.

Note that getting cash back is instant and trouble free, unless it is rush hour at the airport . 

Edited November 11, 2018 by JMF

[seekwul]

Wow, this has been extremely helpful - thank you everyone !

One last related question - I have a list of shops to visit in Paris already, but can someone give me the current MSRP (or EU equivalent) for the M10 and M10-P ? Curious if this will actually make a difference.

 

Thanks !

[Guest JMF]

5 minutes ago, seekwul said:

Wow, this has been extremely helpful - thank you everyone !

One last related question - I have a list of shops to visit in Paris already, but can someone give me the current MSRP (or EU equivalent) for the M10 and M10-P ? Curious if this will actually make a difference.

 

Thanks !

I recommend  this shop, they speak english and can check the rangefinder adjustment which can be off even on a new body.

Their prices are online here:

https://www.photosuffren.com/41-boitiers

 

Cheers, Jean-Marc.

Edited November 11, 2018 by JMF

[Photon42]

Leica store Vienna has one demo M10 (in like new condition, full two year Leica warranty) available for (excl. VAT) €4990 - the normal price incl VAT I understand is €6850 with them. While not getting the Paris shopping experience, it seems a good price. You will probably have it in hand 5-7 days later. I bought my M9 from them very long back and some other used stuff and found them accurate and reliable. And Vienna is always worth a visit. Much less stressy than Paris or London and fantastic architecture.

 

[LucisPictor]

When I first saw this thread I thought it read "US President shopping in France" (which actually could be true ATM).

And then I grabbed the popcorn and expected some heavy political discussion. But "Thank God"...

[Fgcm]

3 hours ago, Alex U. said:

Thre Swiss love bella Italia by the way. And in Italy there are ways for everything. Love to be there.

No Alex, it's fully legal all over Europe. It's a directive. It's just a matter of being smart enough to understand that a customer is a customer. And to understand how to make a service like that. By the way, I checked and the same service is available also in Paris. 

Your ironic comment sounds like you do not know how VAT works.

[fatihayoglu]

As a person who got tax free shopping many times in EU, the process is simple but can be a mess as well.

shop in Leica store

get your tax refund form, signed by the shop

fill the details. CC option is the best

take the camera and form to the airport, visit Tax Free office, before security.

theyll do their part and you’ll get your money in 30 days more or less

 

the mess can be in the airport. If you are flying off from CDG, then you can expect many tourists are in queue with you, showing thousands of items to the custom officers. They bound to check every piece on the forms.

if you can find, visit the custom office in the city. They’ll process your form and issue your refund (on your CC7, but still you need to take the form to get stamped in the airport as exported. I suspect this should be another queue. Sometimes it is just a postbox to drop the form. If you don’t drop your form in the airport, they’ll take the money back from your CC.

 

this link has global blue office in Paris you can visit to get your money back

http://www.globalblue.com/tax-free-shopping/france/paris-downtown

Edited November 11, 2018 by fatihayoglu

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[seekwul]

Just now, fatihayoglu said:

As a person who got tax free shopping many times in EU, the process is simple but can be a mess as well.

shop in Leica store

get your tax refund form, signed by the shop

fill the details. CC option is the best

take the camera and form to the airport, visit Tax Free office, before security.

theyll do their part and you’ll get your money in 30 days more or less

 

the mess can be in the airport. If you are flying off from CDG, then you can expect many tourists are in queue with you, showing thousands of items to the custom officers. They bound to check every piece on the forms.

if you can find, visit the custom office in the city. They’ll process your form and issue your refund (on your CC7, but still you need to take the form to get stamped in the airport as exported. I suspect this should be another queue. Sometimes it is just a postbox to drop the form. If you don’t drop your form in the airport, they’ll take the money back from your CC.

Thanks for the tip. It seems that VAT is 19% but I will only be able to reclaim 12%. At 12%, it’s roughly the same as the USA price (maybe $100 cheaper). So in the end this may not be worth it. Maybe.