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Sadly you can't get a VAT refund if you are buying online from the UK. However, if you are visiting the UK and buy anything, you can potentially reclaim the VAT (using a VAT 407 form).

 RiTides wrote:
This comes up a lot but is never addressed... I was really pleased to have another company (Gamemat.eu) remove VAT when you request an invoice from them and are outside the EU.

Shipping is already a killer - it would be great if FW would remove the VAT that they're not having to pay to the government anyway, rather than keep it for themselves...

Yes, I agree. For certain (most) jurisdictions, you're essentially paying more for the product. That reminds me, I wanted to buy one of those gamemat mats!

Yup, it was your story I was referring to.

 warboss wrote:
Yup, it was your story I was referring to.

To me, FW having "expensive prices" is fine. It's a theoretically top-tier product that's made for a tiny niche of fans who want more advanced modelling products or more specific products or whatever. I like their stuff. But messing up taxes and shipping that badly is just poor customer service, which, IMO, there is no excuse for on an obviously luxury modelling product. It was okay before when UPS charged the taxes and brokerage, when FW was *NOT* charging the taxes, and if you got it by post, and you didn't get charged tax, that was just a little bonus.

What they're actually doing now is just a bad job of filling out customs paperwork. Frankly, if there are UPS fees and whatnot, they should just be charged to GW/FW, and they should build into the price of the order OR charge for it as a line item on the order, so that when you check out, that's actually what you pay.

If you compare it to main GW -- go buy a Finecast or Web-Only plastic kit online. They'll charge you tax, it will come from the UK, and you won't pay any more when the guy delivers it. That should be the way it works... As it is, it feels like you're buying something from an individual overseas on eBay rather than a company that ships millions of dollars of stuff around the world.

Well there goes my plans for a Forge World purchase. Not worth the hassle.

They don't charge me Sales tax in the US... but then again I'm in Oregon and we don't have sales tax so at least they are consistent. ^_^