Epicbikeshop Cape Town . .VAT refund missing!

[Hennie VR]

You stalker

 

Hahaha. If he puts a link to his Strava profile in his signature then I suppose he wants people to have a look.

[YUMEYA]

Sorry OP no love here friend  . South Africans never claim back their tax when spending money in a foreign country, it is below us. And we always declare our goodies at customs because nothing brings us more joy than paying duties and vat.   Viva nkandla Viva!!

[Americo]

'he knew very well he was lying' that seems a gross assumption to me and it could well be that he was not aware you would have issues and he made a statement based on his knowledge rather than being an export expert?

 

I could be wrong but .... no that doesn't happen

I understand but what would you think if a shop tells you that you'll get the VAT back and then they give you an invoice without VAT? On the top of all once the tax refund office asked them for a proper invoice with a VAT and they sent a new invoice with a VAT number that it s actually not valid?

 

The bike seller is on this forum and already wrote once on this topic so he is following the conversation and can clarify everything

[Omar]

a qucik question to the tax experts - is the Epic Bike shop allowed to import bikes or be an agent for a brand if they are not vat registered?

[Edge_Design]

a qucik question to the tax experts - is the Epic Bike shop allowed to import bikes or be an agent for a brand if they are not vat registered?

 

It would be very surprising if they weren't actually VAT registered - that fact has yet to be established. Their turnover must exceed the threshold (or reasonably be expected to if it hasn't yet) so registration would be compulsory. You wouldn't need to be registered to import or to act as an agent, but it wouldn't make financial sense to fill those functions and not be registered (your customers want to claim their VAT if you're a wholesaler and you would hope your sales exceed R1m p.a.). Assuming your sales are below the threshold then as a bike shop supplying to the consumer, there is probably no real difference whether you register or not.

[Hennie VR]

a qucik question to the tax experts - is the Epic Bike shop allowed to import bikes or be an agent for a brand if they are not vat registered?

 

I don't think Epic Bike shop import the bikes themselves.

Usually each brand have their agents/distributors in a country and the bike shops get their bikes from them. 

 

Omnico is one name that comes to mind.

[EmptyB]

Hahaha. If he puts a link to his Strava profile in his signature then I suppose he wants people to have a look.

Too true! Good investigative work....

[DJR]

Will the SARS/customs people at the airport re-fund a foreign visitor with a valid tax invoice with a valid Vat number, if the vendors VAT affairs are NOT in order with SARS? (Say, if SARS recon that the VAT from the vendor has not been paid to them or that there were dodgy VAT claims made?) 

[YUMEYA]

I understand but what would you think if a shop tells you that you'll get the VAT back and then they give you an invoice without VAT? On the top of all once the tax refund office asked them for a proper invoice with a VAT and they sent a new invoice with a VAT number that it s actually not valid?

 

The bike seller is on this forum and already wrote once on this topic so he is following the conversation and can clarify everything

None of that matters here. You lost this fight when you purchased an Italian bike in South Africa and you from Italy.   I hope you did not eat Italian food during your stay in SA!!! 

[NotSoBigBen]

I would imagine that the said bike shop would also need to establish and ensure the mechanism for them to get re-imbursed by SARS after they give you your VAT back? Unlike the airport where SARS are effectively giving it straight back. Of praat ek bollie?

otherwise they would effectively be giving you a 14% discount on the bike .....

[YUMEYA]

Can you believe this crap.. I cant imagine South Africans supporting this store. I am so mad right now    How dare you buy Mrs Balls in the UK?

 

www.southafricanshop.co.uk

 

The South African Shop is part of Jumbo Importers ltd. Jumbo is the biggest importer of South African food in the UK. It was established in the UK in 2003. We have 4 shops across London and a Butchery on site and our Colnbrook branch. We always strive for excellence and perfection. Our main aim is to please our customers and we will go the extra mile.

We offer our customers retail buying (single products) or to buy at our wholesale price (minimum 3 products of a kind).The wholesale buying will only be available on our website. Make us your PICK n PAY away from home! ( they can not be serious)

[Americo]

I would imagine that the said bike shop would also need to establish and ensure the mechanism for them to get re-imbursed by SARS after they give you your VAT back? Unlike the airport where SARS are effectively giving it straight back. Of praat ek bollie?

 

otherwise they would effectively be giving you a 14% discount on the bike .....

That's exactly what the lady at the VAT refund in the airport told them,if their VAT is not valid they have to give me back the 14% from their pocket! but that didn't happen 

[Marius]

Google says:

 

Until you receive your VAT registration number you must not charge VAT, or show VAT as a separate item on your invoices. To make sure that you do not lose income in the period after you applied for VAT registration but before you receive your VAT registration number, you should increase your prices by the VAT rate relevant for your goods or services, and explain to your customers why you are doing so.

Once you are registered, you can then reissue those invoices, amended to show your VAT registration number and the VAT charged. This will ensure that your VAT-registered customers can reclaim the VAT that they have paid.

Lots of businesses get this wrong although mostly it doesn't matter as long as you re-issue the invoice asap with the VAT no. on it.

The main problem comes when a business doesn't make allowance for the VAT from the date they applied to be registered. Then they either have to invoice again adding the VAT and ask the customer nicely if they will pay the VAT, or the total invoice will assumed to include VAT and you pay it out of your own pocket.

[Reg Lizard]

Must be small tenders then ...

jip R50-100k

[Skylark]

I would imagine that the said bike shop would also need to establish and ensure the mechanism for them to get re-imbursed by SARS after they give you your VAT back? Unlike the airport where SARS are effectively giving it straight back. Of praat ek bollie?

 

otherwise they would effectively be giving you a 14% discount on the bike .....

Sars giving a tourist a vat refund has got zero to do with the retailer. You pay the retailer the agreed price including the vat, Sars refunds the vat portion to the tourist upon leaving the country out of their own pocket, safe in the knowledge they have/will get the vat originally charged back from the retailer as per the retailers normal vat returns.

 

Zilla/Epicbikeshop is liking a whole lot of posts but not saying much. How did the op find himself in the predicament he did, vat refunds are hardly unusual occurrences, provide valid documentation and you get your refund. The bike shop is clearly at fault here if they led the op to believe he could use their invoice to claim the vat back which he obviously couldn't.

 

Perhaps an honest mistake on their part? If so how are they going to make it right for the op?

[KingTJ]

After wading through tons of speculation and lynching and some supportive posts I will give my perspective on the OP's dilemma:

 

He got a great deal on a great bike, an Infinito CV with Carbon Athena 11sp,  I spent countless hours advising and deliberating by email and in person with Americo on choosing a bike, the correct fit and size and colour. after hours, late at night, you name it I did it. I bent over backwards to accomodate him on the sale. He paid less then the retail price by about R1000, got a free set of Xpresso 8 Carbon pedals worth over 2K and got upgraded on the wheelset from a supplied Vento G3 to the Zonda Wheels, an upgraded Fizik Arione Saddle and upgraded to 25c Vredestein tires. All in all value of about or more then the VAT he is complaining about not recieving.

 

We spoke about a VAT return at the airport, I said I would provide as much as I could on paper but was not aware of the complete list of requirements. My Invoice does not state Tax Invoice or show a VAT number.

 

I am not VAT registered but my 2nd business (to answer another post, in Import and distribution) is legally seperate and a PTY Ltd - Since I have only recently aquired the company docs, the VAT process is arduous - I am not a lawyer and have employed someone to do this for me. I wait.

 

Epic Bike Shop as it stands is now under new management, the 10 year old cc has not been dissolved and I could not take that over and so I started up as a Sole Proprietor. My accountant will advise when its required to register this for VAT or change the entity type.

 

I have advised Americo on more than 5 occasions that this will take a while and I will still do my best to provide him with an invoice from the Vat registered entity that he can go claim his money back.

 

I pay my VAT to my suppliers, mark up ex VAT and then include VAT that will always be paid by the consumer - its not possible to live in a "VAT FREE ZONE" like everybody thinks - If the retailer is not VAT registered then they cannot claim against their input VAT. All prices paid include VAT. I am not making VAT my profit. I operate a small business with very reasonable pricing and exceptional expertise.

 

I will always do my utmost to help anyone. Even when its a last minute im leaving for a race repair, or lending our my personal equipment which is mostly boutique, custom or high end. That you will rarely find elsewhere.

 

A couple of weeks back Americo enquired about a warranty for a crack below his downtube. I have seen a few paint cracks in my days with warranty claims so its not impossible under the BB area. I entertained it an requested pictures. The photographs tell a plain story of a bike that was crushed in a bike rack, the clamp on the angle of the downtube below the bottle cage and above the BB in the traditional area for a rack to hold. The clamp rubber grip outline still visible. Americo still insisted that he would try for a warranty in Italy. A blame shift trait now plain to me that he will see in everything.

 

I emailed Americo personally at the outset of this thread, and have not commented all day as I have been on my feet serving customers that require urgent work, for K2C and alone in store. nonetheless I hope this explains where the OP is coming from and what he wants to do.

 

This he said, she said mud slinging will do no good - the OP is trying to avoid taxation completely to make this an even better deal than he already got, so he would essentially be breaking the law not me.

 

Following all of this for 4 pages and being called a liar and cheat has not done much for my willingness to assist any further than I have done already.

 

PS. The 2015 Infinito CV Athena is listed at 3300 GBP which makes it about R10000 cheaper to buy in South Africa.

 

Kudos for coming ot and stating your side of the story without getting emotional....

 

Nb. You should have done this last night....then friday madness would have started with a cracker:p