Hi all,
I purchased a watch from the EU that was shipped here to the US. Now, I am trying to send it back to the seller. How does VAT apply when returning something? Is it treated the same as any other import?

Thanks!

 

Complicated, I'm afraid. Here in Portugal it would be a long and irritating process to convince the authorities that it was a return, and that no taxes should be levied. Easier elsewhere, perhaps, but not likely to be a breeze for the recipient.

 

Especially now

 

Probably depends in part on how you ship it.

Courier services like FedEx likely more problematic than USPS.

 

Log into customs of the country your returning it to and fill out form needed and include it with goods.
Government officers like the correct form filled out and make it easy if someone has at least tried. ( A simple returned goods randomly written means nothing. )

PS: there is a form for this in nearly every country

 

VAT is a problem of the recipient, here the seller. He will probably be charged VAT and import taxes but if/when he contacts customs and shows export evidence of that very item, they will (hopefully) accept the parcel as return and waive import taxes and VAT.

If he doesn’t have his export paperwork anymore, then it might be more complicated or impossible.

The easiest for the seller would be to create the return paperwork using the same transporter as initially exported and send you the return slip.

That’s all part of the international selling fun