Buy Rigol scope in Germany or UK - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: xtv
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2014, 06:48:45 am
content: I'll be travelling to Germany (probably Frankfurt) and UK (prob London) during October/November.I'm looking forward to get a Rigol DS2072 scope, but I'm a bit lost on how and where to get it. I'm actually a bit ashamed to ask this, as this must be pretty obvious to you residents in both countries, but this isn't clear for me..I know there's VAT tax, and also that there's a VAT refund that can be required for travelers living outside the EU, but I'm not sure if this can be done, and how.For me, getting it without VAT would make sense, I would save a good value and if I get bad luck and taxed in the way back (which is 60% of total price), it would cost me the same I would spend buying this device here in Brazil.In the other hand, if I pay almost 20% on VAT and I get taxed here, it would be 60% over the price+VAT, and it would rise the total quite a bit..I know there's Batronix, and the scope is for EUR 710 in there, but I've contacted them, explaining I'm a traveler from outside EU, and how much it would cost. They replied me, and the total would be EU 844,90, so they obviously are including 19% VAT.There's also thishttp://www.rigol-uk.co.uk/store in UK, which also include prices with and without VAT. Again, I'm not sure if I apply for buying it without VAT or not.There is also a good reputation seller in ebay.de for a good price (http://www.ebay.de/itm/RIGOL-DS2072A-OSCILLOSCOPE-70MHz-2GSa-s-2-CHANNELS-/151341549401?pt=Mess_Pr%C3%BCftechnik&hash=item233ca8c759) that says it's fast delivered in Germany, but I'm not sure if this could be taxed, or there are risks involved in the delivery, specially as I'm not a local resident and would send it to my hotel room.Anyway, any information about stores and tips regarding taxes from local residents are welcome.Thanks for the time.

author: camallison
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2014, 09:38:18 am
content: The UK supplier is:Telonic Instruments Limited can be found at:Toutley Industrial Estate,Toutley Road,Wokingham,Berks,RG41 1QNU.K.You can reach us by:Telephone: +44(0)118 9786911Fax: +44(0)118 9792338E-mail: rigol @telonic.co.ukWokingham is an approx 1 hour (max) train ride from London. Maybe you could arrange to collect it in person, paying by card or cash, then claim back the VAT at the airport as you leave the UK?Colin

author: josem
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2014, 10:07:35 am
content: Quote from: camallison on August 04, 2014, 09:38:18 amIt's only possible to claim the VAT back for purchases made in shops participating in the "VAT Retail Export Scheme". Since participating in the scheme and it's compliance is a big burden not many businesses do it unless they have plenty of tourist traffic to justify it.You may want to check with Telonic but I suspect they're not in the scheme.I don't know of any way a business in the EU can legally sell a product and ship it to an EU address without adding VAT, unless they're selling to another VAT registered business. Retail VAT-free schemes always require that the shop check your passport and fill in a bunch of forms in person.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2014, 11:11:48 am
content: Quote from: xtv on August 04, 2014, 06:48:45 amIf you have access to an import freight forwarder (despachante) you could check how to get this tax reduced to 5% by correctly qualifying the oscilloscope. Check section 90 of the import table (TIPI). The issue may be to find out how to get this properly qualified and get the correct papers (perhaps someone at the mail post may help), but I would at least bring a bunch of printed websites with me if I wanted to cross the border.We used to apply the following reasoning when importing things to our office in Brasil: if it was below 500 US dollars we would simply pay the full 60%, but if it was above it was worth paying the despachante to deal with the paperwork - even if were hand carrying stuff.

author: alanb
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2014, 11:45:09 am
content: Quote from: josem on August 04, 2014, 10:07:35 amAs far as I am aware any UK vat registered supplier can do it, whether they want to do it or not on a small sale due to the extra work involved is a different matter.http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/vatresmanual/vatres3050.htm

author: josem
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2014, 12:26:16 pm
content: Quote from: alanb on August 04, 2014, 11:45:09 amYes, any retailer can participate in the Retail VAT export scheme if they wish, but not many do because of the extra work required.The retailer needs to have the right forms, provide a SASE plus instruct customers how to post back the stamped forms when leaving the UK, then do the refund itself - making sure to only do it after receiving the form back from the customer stamped by UK Customs! - and finally handle the accounting to zero-rate the purchase. Also if anything goes wrong, e.g. as simple as the customer losing the form, things can get complicated and it's possible the customer may not get the refund, which can leave him/her disgruntled with the process...Some shops use a VAT reclaim company to handle these procedures instead but that still adds extra work and fees on top.There's a full guide of how it works available from HMRC herehttp://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000159&propertyType=document

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2014, 03:38:06 am
content: There are three RIGOL Authorized Distributors in the UK and four in Germany:http://www.eu.rigolna.com/how-to-buy/

author: xtv
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 25, 2014, 10:21:00 pm
content: Hello,I'd like to thank anyone replying this thread.Sorry for taking so long to answer, but I actually did a lot of research about it before bringing my scope back home, from prices to duties, to possible local custom fees, but in the end everything went well. I finally got my DS2072A!!I'd like to thank the user marmad for being of such good help, and I can't keep from recommending the user drieg, that runs Silcon Electronics company in Czech Rep.After searching everywhere, from Batronix to Batterfly, to ebay sellers, drieg not only had an excellent price for this scope, but was also extremelly attentive, flexible and helpful.Marmad have a very good review on Rigol DS2072 scope on youtube () and he recommends drieg. I can reply his last words in this video, "if you're in Europe, don't buy a Rigol scope without contacting drieg".Totally recommended!