Florida VAT refund
Hello,I am in Florida right now and I have a question concerning VAT refund for foreign people (tourists) at the airport (if you leave the country). Can anyone tell me if this is possible? if yes, what are the conditions and are there maybe products/services exclude from this agreement.
thanks!
1
They don't have a VAT in Florida, but do have a sales tax, and it's not refundable to anyone just because they leave Florida.(There's no value-added tax {VAT} anywhere in the US; sales taxes are imposed by states and local governments, not by the federal government; and only in Louisiana is sales tax refunded to visitors leaving the state.)
Edited by: OZinOH
2
I just did some research on buying a used car in the US for export to Europe and it was confirmed that you can get a sales tax refund in Florida as well as in Illinois by presenting the export documents (a form with a certain number as I recall, proof of shipment), but probably this is not possible or too complicated with normal consumer goods. In the case of cars, an export agent handles that, but maybe you could also do it yourself.There seems to be something in Texas: http://www.taxfreetexas.com/
For cars, I've found this: http://www.iasp.com/config/PDFs/Sales%20Tax%20for%20International%20Buyers%207_06.pdf
Edited by: mattoni - added links
3
Just re-checked with an importer.The dealer can sell you an item tax-free (which means no tax will be added to the bill in the first place), but only if you have your purchase shipped by the dealer outside of Florida, e.g. by UPS.
If you buy something yourself and take it onto the plane, you have to pay the sales tax and you can't have it refunded.
It's the same situation with cars as well as with any other goods.
You might ask the dealer if they will send the goods for you via UPS instead of handing it out to you, but shipment might cost more than the sale tax.
Here are some legal details: https://taxlaw.state.fl.us/view.aspx?id=5503677&file=sut_taa2&format=3&banner=Sales%20and%20Use%20Tax%20-%202003-To%20Date%20Technical%20Assistance%20Advisements
4
This is only possible in Louisiana.5
smartcookie, did you look at the other answers?#1 is right, a VAT refund, which is what OP asked about, isn't possible anywhere in the US, including Louisiana, because there is not VAT anywhere in the US, including Louisiana.
A sales tax refund is possible in Lousiana, as #1 said.
Your post added no value.
6
This is just to clarify as I might have caused some confusion: purchases are only exempt from Florida sales tax if a) the buyer is not present at the time of the sale and b) the item is shipped to the buyer by mail or courier.In all other cases, mainly after a personal purchase, it is not possible to reclaim the Florida sales tax (Louisiana might be an exception).
So forget the links I posted in #2, these refer to "mail order" only.
Based on a proper calculation and a reliable vendor, though, it might be worth to do a "mail order" - how this is practically achieved without breaking the law I leave up to you - if the costs of shipping are much lower than the sales tax, particularily with small, but costly items.
8
mattoni--I ran a business in FL several years ago. At that time, the state provided a form that could be filled out by a visitor that was a declaration that the item would be removed from the country and no sales tax was due. As the seller, we also had to provide a bill of lading indicating export or WE were liable for the sales tax. Most vendors prefrer to avoid the risk
and just don't offer this.(or don't know about it) We were audited regularly by the state.
In any case, there was no mechanism for "reclaiming "tax once it was paid.
9
Berto301 - so maybe it used to be possible and the law was changed due to fraud (which would have been really easy then, how would you as a dealer know that the visitor really left the country?). Now, if the dealer takes care of the shipment and receives a bill of lading from UPS, they can prove export without the buyers involvement.I've ordered items from the US on the internet a few times and never was sales tax added to the bill, but these sites seem to be used to ship goods abroad.
10
mattoni-- Go back and read my origional post. Fraud was the vendors responsibility. As the vendor, you had to have a bill of lading indicating export or YOU had to pay the tax.It didn't make any difference if the customer left the country. The purchase had to leave the country.
We had a lot of customers from the Islands who would buy items with cash at our service counter, fill out the paperwork, and have the item shipped to there home address. They could not take the purchase with them. It had to be shipped out of the country and we had to have the documents to prove it.
I suspect the law has not been changed. Most vendors hated the paperwork and wouldn't offer the service. It really didn't make any sence unless the item was expensive and large.
We sold diesel engines.(They don't ship UPS)
