I know there is a lot of info here on claiming back tax, but cant find anything that answers my Q. Just been to Freiburg today by train, bought a coat and got a green form stamped by the shop, was hoping to get it stamped at Basel Badischer Bahnhof but got back late and it was closed. Can I go back another day, or go to another toll to get it stamped? And would I need to have the items I've bought to show when I go?
Hi,
Theoretically you can't get it stamped another day but in reality ... no problem, especially from a shop not on the border.
Take the goods, go back to Basel Bad Bf and just get it stamped. If you want to try it at another border, might be good to not just stroll over one way and turn aroud immediately as they'll probably see you. Of course, that's what you will do at the station but they don't seem to mind.
I bought a bike in Stuttgart and came back Sunday night. Basel Bad Bf toll was shut. Couple of days later I cycled over the border and cycled back. Showed the bike, showed the form, got it stamped (and declared it immediately to the Swissies as the bike was well over 300 CHF). Posted the form back to the bike shop who credited me the 19% MWST.
Thanks Adrian - went back to the station, got the form stamped, no Qs asked - was easy! So just need to either post the form back to the shop or take it back myself. :-)
Hello everyone, I have a question here.
If I would like to go to the pet shop near French boarder called "Nilufar" and the detailed address is "3 Rue Wittersbach, 68300 Saint-Louis, France", so which bus or tram could I take from Basel sbb to get there simply?
Thank you very much!
For Nilufar, see the thread here: Go to "Nilufar" pet shop from Basel, How?
Can anyone recommend shopping across the boarder for furniture? It seems that paying the Swiss tax is clearly cheaper but are prices in Germany significantly lower than Basel? What furniture stores are near to Basel (not Ikea)? We have a car so driving is not a problem but I can't seem to find furniture stores and when I search the threads, I end up with Ikea or adverts for used furniture. Thanks in advance!
There's a rather large and good furniture shop in Dogern, you can get there from Basel by car or by train. Prices are about 60% of what you would pay in Basel, and they promised to organize VAT refund for us (haven't tried this myself yet, though - if somebody else did, I would love to hear how it worked out.)
Hi I tried the green forms for shopping in Germany and it works great! I get the VAT back without problems. I tried asking for the same green forms in France and people were looking at me as if I had been dropped on my head as a baby. Is there any way of getting VAT back on things bought in France?
Thanks for any answers!
Heidi
Hi ,
What are the good shopping places near the Basel Border in German area ?
Can someone send a list of shops or the name of the town where I can go for shopping ?
Thanks,
SJ
From Zurich I would recommend going to Konstanz, rather than Basel.
I believe you need to spend over 600E to get the tax back in France from a non-touristy shop.
Hi, we just went to Mulhouse in France last week end. VAT on food there is 3%, there's also a 13% on non-food items and the highest rate of 19.6% applied to other items (bought a pair of boots). If you make a purchase of over €175.00 in one transaction in one shop, you can give the sales person your passport number+address in Switzerland and they give you a form to post (free post, all details on the form). The VAT amount will be refunded directly to the card used by you for the purchase. We did this in Carrefour in Mulhouse, but as the purchases were mainly food (don't tell anyone), the VAT content wasn't significant so it was a test in claiming VAT back, really. TV, furniture, diamonds next, I guess?
Updated link :
I buy every week in Rheincenter in germany.
In the mall you have the big supermarket (marktauf and also several shops like h&m, shoes shops,mc Donald's ,etc....
And please note that in a few months the tram 8 will arrive directly to the mall(now that part of the line is under construction).