That will be 40K please

Dear taxpayer,

That will be CHF 40,000 ($40,000). Please pay by tomorrow. In cash.

Love,

Switzerland

Ok. That's not exactly how Swiss taxes go, but essentially, you get a bill from the tax man for a staggering amount and are expected to hurry up and go transfer the money to them asap upon receiving your bill. Taxes are not deducted directly from paychecks in Switzerland, Swiss residents are expected to save part of their paychecks for the big tax bill that comes later, once a year.

Can you imagine this working in the United States? Please. The budget deficit is bad enough.

Tax-free shopping: not worth the trouble

I have long lamented my laziness in requesting my tax back from purchases made in other countries. So in March, while on a weekend trip to Barcelona, I decided to do something about that. When paying for my Spanish fashions, I requested a Global Refund. It seemed easy enough.

1. Fill out the Global Refund receipt that the store gives you.

2. Take it to the tourist office.

3. Get your tax back in cash.

4. Get the receipt stamped upon your departure.

5. Mail it back in and hope you filled it all out right.

Anyhow. I spent 138 Euros on clothes, got 17 Euros or so back in cash after standing in line at the tourist office for a half hour, ran around the Barcelona airport almost missing my flight for the silly stamp (it is my impression that the tax-free customs guys hide on purpose--you'll see why below), and then spent 2,40 CHF on a stamp to mail the thing back to Spain. Worth it? No way.

Time is money. And unless you're spending thousands of dollars in a foreign country, forget the tax-free thing. It's just not worth the time and stress.

And here's the catch: my sister paid it. If you fail to get your receipt stamped at customs and fail to send it back after the fact, you are charged. A lot. My sister got a nice $25 charge on her credit card two months after the fact, even though she originally only got 10 Euros of tax money back. So the whole transaction ended up with her having a loss of about $15. (Spain told her Switzerland would stamp her receipt before her flight back to the U.S., but Switzerland wouldn't stamp it because they are not in the EU.)

Lesson: tax free, don't bother. Unless you are spending at least $1000 and are 100% sure of the rules and how to follow through--especially if your trip involves multiple countries that may or may not be in the EU.

Do you have experience with tax-free shopping? Do you think the time is worth the money?

Duty Free Rush in Oslo

The first thing I noticed upon landing in Oslo was the entire interior of the airport was made of wood. The second thing I noticed was that the duty free store was next to the baggage claim. And I, my husband, and a crazy French woman were the only ones next to the luggage belt.

"I go to Trondheim," said the French woman to us, like we should care. She showed us her ticket.

"That's nice," we said politely.

"But do I get my bag here? Why is no one here?"

We stared back at the duty free store that the passengers on our plane were now raiding like teenagers that had just turned 21.

"They're all at duty free," I pointed out to the woman.

I turned to my husband, wondering if we too were missing something by not rushing into the duty free store. I had never seen a duty free store location near a baggage claim, so it was a bizarre sight to see Norwegian citizens grabbing wines and beers like there was no tomorrow in Oslo. But I didn't have any Norwegian currency yet and I didn't see an ATM in the entire space. So the duty free was obviously only for the Norwegians. And no one else. It was very bizarre.

When departing Norway from Bergen 10 days later, my husband examined the duty free store now that we knew a bit more about Norway. Basically, the reason is this. In a grocery store, a six pack of beer costs 160 Kroner (over 30 USD). In the duty free store, the same six pack costs 40 Kroner (8 USD). That is how much tax is on alcohol in Norway. Now all the mad rush and location of the duty free store in Oslo (as well as the high consumption of free wine on our flight) made complete sense. Cheers to that.