FYI-Visiting Germany

[Darryl.Richman]

How does the VAT refund work? I did get the stamp on the invoice at the airport, but they told me that they don't refund VAT on spares at the airport. Said I needed to send it back to Stemler. Does that sound right? Anyone done that before?Sounds strange to me. I wouldn't think that the government would distinguish at all about what the VAT was paid on, merely if it was enough to make it worth their time to go through the motion.

I haven't done it with Germany. I think I last did this with the UK, a number of years ago. If I recall, I had to show some Heathrow officials at one desk both my receipts and the actual merchandise, and then present the form they had me fill out and they stamped at another desk in the airport, whereupon I got the actual cash (in Sterling, of course) handed to me. I think the desks were on opposite sides of the security checkpoint.

[Darryl.Richman]

At least in Germany, there is a thriving underground market. I have found that a surprising number of small merchants will forgive you the VAT, regardless of whether you're taking something out of the country or not, if you pay in cash (vs. a bank transfer or credit cards). The Germans call it working black, schwarz arbeiten. I guess they find a 16% sales tax on top of high income taxes oppressive. There was even a funny little bit about it in my German textbook!

[Barry Robin]

darryl-

thanks for the dreher tip on the brake plate. it seems that the R62 plate won't work,as the dia. is just a hair small.
i can highly recommend vech's bake pads; i've gone from having to start braking for traffic at least two blocks away to only having to satart one block!

you sound surprised that i'm using the R11 as my commute bike! as someone from the bay area to another-untill recently-you should be used to us crazies in san francisco that consider vintage vehicles viable transportation. i even used to see a guy driving down folsom street every morning in a model T ford!

you wrote: "You're commuting to work -- in the city, it sounds like -- on your R11?? In the winter, when it's dark in the morning and the evening? You're a better man than I, Gunga Din, even on my modern /2!"

i'm afraid so! it's my only means of transportation; if it brakes down, i have to take the bus. but as of last year, i'm living in ireland-so the winter days are even shorter, being so far north. then factor in the rain and occasional snowfall-oh what the hell: let also add in driving on the other side of the street!
we're having fun now!






'

[Darryl.Richman]

Barry, you are a better man than I! I know that /2s are popular (and chic!) transportation in SF, but riding something with essentially no lights, and little braking power on those steep hills with all the fast but distracted local traffic and slow and confused tourist traffic, well...

Ireland is a place I haven't yet travelled to. One of these days!

[Bruce Frey]

I think I last did this with the UK, a number of years ago.

Darryl,

Last year I was unable to get a VAT refund at LHR because my purchase was not from someone who participated in the program even though my receipt clearly showed the VAT amount. Unfortunatley, I was in a bit of a time crunch and did not have time to argue or seek a higher authority.

You make a good point about asking for a refund/discount. The worst thay can say is "no".

I will be at Veterama on Friday and Saturday until 2 PM or so (Ludwigshafen is small) and unless I convince my wife (who is not into vintage bikes and wants to be in some cozy chalet in Switzerland) that we should spend the WHOLE holiday weekend messing about with old motorycles, I will have to catch Osthofen another time.

Ciao,

Bruce

[Darryl.Richman]

I probably won't know if I'm going to make Veterama until nearly the last minute. My flight arrives on Wednesday the 26th, and I have to reassemble my R52 and get it tuned for break in, besides recovering from jet lag. If I get that far, then I may well go to Veterama on Friday.

Alas, the Keilriemenfahrt is Sunday/Monday.

A cozy chalet in Switzerland sounds pretty good, actually. In, say Andermatt. With a sport bike outside.

Well, if you see my "silver phoenix" R1100RS parked on the back side road somewhere, you'll know things are going well for me!

[aznvrd]

Stemler advised me to get the receipt stamped at the airport, which I did. All they did at the Export Certification Desk was look over my receipts and ask me if I really had those parts in my bags. I was willing to open my travel case but I guess for once in my life I didn't look guilty. They stamped my receipts and checked in my checked case. They guy in front of me got all his stuff looked thru and had to account for everything on the receipts......

I got the Stemler invoice stamped at the desk and they confirmed what Stemler said...Mail it back to Stemler and somehow, magically, I'll get my refund or something close to it.

[Herknav90]

Yeah, the VAT system is really quirky here. The VAT in Germany has now gone up. It used to be 16%, but now it is 19%. The only good thing is that when you see the price on something, there is no other charges involved for them. We get the nice little 19% kickback with a VAT form.

In the military, we get VAT forms on base and dish them out as needed...Only aloted 10 at a time out. We normally have to pay and then go to the customer service area to get the refund. Venders are not suppose to keep them, but most keep them for a year. Nice!

In purchasing vehicles on the public, I have not had to pay the VAT. I believe the car was too old. The dealers do add the VAT, but a VAT form will fix that. Where do you get VAT forms? Call an embassy maybe? I don't know, because the ones the miltary buy are filled out with our names.

[VBMWMO]

Just some advise: Support our advertizers....

Stopped in to Motorad Stemler to get some parts for my Steib while I was in Germany. Unlike many places I went to, he doesn't accept credit or debit cards. Nearest "bank" (2 kilometer walk) won't exchange Dollars for Euros. (It was snowing......and cold....and uphill, both ways)

To quote Steve Miller "Your cash ain't nothing but trash". Don't bother bringing many US $$. Easier and better exchange rate with ATM's which are everywhere and in English. Just make sure you advise your bank that you'll be using it overseas so the fraud dept doesn't shut you down. Also you may ask for an increase in what you can draw per day. My card will let me pull out $500 in the US but over there I could only get the equalivant of $300 in Euro's.

Get your receipt stamped at the airport and you can get most of your 16% VAT refunded. Haven't done that yet.

Now that's it's done, I think I just should have bought everything from our advertizers. I thought it might be fun to buy it in Germany but that wasn't the case. The people at Stemler were certainly helpful. But hauling this stuff thru the airport and on to planes was a pain. I may have saved a few bucks, but I'm sure it wasn't worth the additional effort.