Your habitual place of residence is outside the European Union, or in a third country, and you want to order a wine cabinet or another product without paying value added tax (VAT)? My Wine Cabinet can offer you the possibility to buy goods with tax refund: you may deduct VAT from the price of goods bought in France.

In order to be entilted to a VAT refund, you must:

• be a resident of a third country at the date of purchase
• be visiting France for less than 6 months
• be at least 15 years-old
• transport the goods back to your country of residence by yourself

You must be able to provide proof of your quality of non-resident at the time of purchase (by showing your identity papers).

When you make your purchase, My Wine Cabinet will give you a VAT refund form signed by our company and by yourself. This form is issued using the PABLO system. By signing it, you are undertaking to complete certain formalities, before the end of the third month following the month when goods were purchased.

• If you are leaving the European Union from France: If your form must be manually certified, French Customs will give you back your form, stamped with a Customs Stamp. You must post the Customs-stamped form to My Wine Cabinet. If your form can be electronically certified at a PABLO station, the message "OK, form valid" will appear, confirming that the goods have been exported. This is the equivalent of a Customs stamp. You do not need to mail us the form, we will be notified directly of the electronic certification.
• If you are leaving the European Union via a Member State other than France: After inspecting the goods, the Customs service of this Member State will give you back the stamped form. You must send it back to My Wine Cabinet yourself once you arrive in your country of residence.

In all cases, we will pay you the sum entered on the form as the VAT refund, according to your instructions and particulars.

Important: As from 1 January 2014, all VAT refund forms are issued using the PABLO system. Therefore you can have your forms for goods purchased in France stamped at any PABLO bacode reader. There is no need to contact Customs. PABLO barcode readers are generally located near to Customs offices in international airports, ports and at border crossings.

You were unable to complete the VAT refund formalities before leaving France?

You are still entitled to a refund, to obtain it, you must:

• obtain a receipt from the Customs service in your country of residence proving that you paid the duty and VAT on the goods purchased, or;
• present a copy of the export sales form and the goods purchased to the French ambassy or consulate in your country of residence to obtain a stamp or certificate confirming that they have seen the goods.

You must send your request for regularisation to the Customs service located at the French point of departure within 6 months of the date of purchase. You must enclose with your request:

• A copy of an official document proving that you are a non-European Union resident.
• The receipt provided by Customs in your country of residence , or a certificate/export sales form stamped by the French ambassy or consulate.
• Your travel ticket.
• A letter explaining why you were unable to complete the VAT refund formalities before leaving France or the European Union. This letter must also include the date and time you left France.

You will find here the instructions regarding the Electronical Stamping using PABLO:  click here.