I forgot to get my forms stamped last time. Can I get them stamped at next visit to the border or may be somewhere else in the city ? Where can I get the information about it ?
If you have already brought the goods back to CH then no.
If you have not yet crossed into CH with the goods, then no problem getting the form stamped as and when you cross into CH, even though the goods were bought a few days ago/weeks ago.
It's very frustrating when you go to Germany etc specifically to make a large purchase then find the customs post is shut upon crossing but so far I have not found a way of getting around this (ie going back to get the form stamped). It's the same when you simply forget.
OK - the German custom ́s >>website<< isn ́t easy to use. But you can find the opening times of all border crossings. For example "Konstanz Autobahn" is opened 24/7.
If you specifically go to make a larger purchase but then "forget" to stamp it, no-one will be able to help
Thank you! Living 15 minutes from the border I am something of a crossing old hand but I will say in my experience at German and French crossings that, apart from the main motorway crossings, even if the website says they are open, this is not necessarily the case.
So when I am anxious to ensure I get a stamp, I cross at a main point and try to aim for office hours.
I crossed said crossing in Konstanz, as well as the Autobahn crossing in Weil am Rhein, during the most un-earthly times, and they never failed me. 3 in the morning, 23 at night, always open.
I agree, however, that the remote places can be dodgy sometimes.
Crossed from >>Gailingen to Diessenhofen<< in the middle of the night, just to have an unmarked Swiss-Borderpolice car follow, and stop us 5-or-so k ́s inland.
December, -15 degrees, full swing search of the vehicle for ~10 Minutes, while all occupants were made to stand on a vacant parking lot in the middle of nowhere.
However, that was my only search in 4 years of ~weekly crossings, so I can ́t really complain.
My particular complaints are with Delle (into North western Ajoie region of Jura - this is one of our main crossing points in Jura into the Belfort region of France) and Whylen (coming into Basel). Oh and the St Louis town crossing is unreliable.
On the few occasions I have been anxious to get a stamp, I stick to a main motorway crossing either Rheinfelden or Basel and never had a problem.
When I gave my receipts for stamping at the customs at the train station in Konstanz, after seeing my Canadian passport and my L residence permit, the officer told me that an L permit is not OK and I should either have a B or C!! Although he stamped the forms, but wrote a comment on the forms that "dauerhafter Wohnsitz in CH nicht nachgewiesen" (permanent residence in CH not proven). This was regardless the fact that he asked me questions such as "since when I do live in CH, etc..."
Would this affect the tax refund process when I send the forms to the Global Blue office in Zurich? Should I provide additional proof (and what can that be) that I live and work in CH?
Questions again but simple question. Anyone with the latest experience in Kontanz shopping and getting the VAT return back ? Where exactly is the Customs office ? I have read earlier posts that its directly opposite to the Intersport near Bahnhof.
Yes, it's right at the railway station but only if you're leaving Konstanz by train towards Switzerland. Otherwise use one of the other border crossings. People have been fined in the past for getting stamps at the railway station without leaving by train afterwards.
There are a lot of crossing possibilities. Needless to list them all.
At three of those crossings it's possible to obtain "the magic stamp":
Railway station (only if leaving Germany with the next train that goes to Switzerland, immediately after getting the stamps. Stepping out of the trainstation back into "normal" German territory is a crime(!) (tax evasion). Although chances of getting caught are minimal, I ́d strongly recommend not to try it!) >>Highway crossing (Google Maps)<<>>Emmishofer Zoll (Google Maps)<< There used to be the "Hauptzoll" (main customs), but it's been closed trying to avoid local traffic in Kreuzlingen. It ́s still possible to walk across, but it's (usually) unmanned.