united-kingdom european-union england-and-wales tax-law
Is it possible to receive VAT refunds for products bought within last 6 months before leaving UK from stores not specifically enrolled in scheme?
<p>Edit: as pointed out by xngtng, this is no longer in operation and was scrapped a couple of years ago.</p>
<p>Suppose one buys something from a shop that doesn't specifically partake in the vat refund scheme. Is the law any different so long as you have the receipt yourself and do the paperwork yourself upon departing? Now what about for e-commerce like eBay UK/Amazon UK? Why or why not?</p>

<p>The only shops that bother with VAT refunds are those that make significant amounts of money from selling to tourists, and would have significant loss of income if they didn’t support VAT refunds.</p>
<p>If the shop doesn’t do the paperwork, you lost.</p>
<p>You paid VAT to the seller. They are the only ones that could refund it.</p>
