U.S. customs

[ForresterModern]

I believe there's a form you can fill out to not pay the VAT...I can certainly remember many shops in Edinburgh offering VAT free shopping, although that was a few years ago and things may have changed.

From what I remember it was only worth doing if you were spending a decent amount of money, technically I guess you'd still be paying duty when you declared it coming back into the country though

As Sidney says larger stores Vat-free your purchases up front if they know you are a tourist taking them out of country but many/most merchants do not. And if not the refund only works for purchases over a certain value per receipt. And you have to fill out separate paperwork, collect your receipts, and have them all stamped by VAT officials at the airport, which you have to locate in the airport and they are often pretty well hidden or only one per airport and not necessarily in the same terminal as your outbound flight, and then you drop it off and pray you got all the paperwork right as they have to process it and you have to wait weeks if not months to have it refundd to a credit card, so it can be a real PITA inconvenience to try to get your VAT refunded. Been there, tried that on several occasions in several different countries, always found myself in the wrong place or at the wrong time to be able to accomplish the deed and get my VAT refunded except one time when it took me over an hour and a half locating the service booth in a different terminal, standing in line, trying in English to get the Spanish speaking attendant to explain why many of my reciepts were inadequate or inadequately filled out to be valid, all for about $40 US refund in the end. Unless it is a fairly sizable amount of money, and you plan in advance to spend the time and effort locating the VAT service desk to file your refund request at the departing airport before flying out of the country, you can likely kiss your VAT goodbye as you pay it. So if you are going to make a sizable purchase, ask for VAT free sales up front, or if that is not available then make sure to get extra copies of your receipts and the proper paperwork filled out in advance of departure, and plan on at least an extra hour or two at the airport prior to departure to make sure you can find the VAT service desk there and file your paperwork and have it stamped and validated by them. Some places may be easier than others, but most IMHO are not simple or quick.