Bicester Village announcements

[JamesT]

Yes I don't understand the VAT refund thing either. But since other countries have similar schemes I believe. I think you can reclaim sales tax when purchasing items in the USA, for example? It's that because you're meant to pay local taxes when bringing them into your home country?

Yes, if you buy stuff abroad and bring it back you’re technically importing it and are thus liable to pay Customs Duty, Excise Duty, and VAT on the purchase. Getting the foreign tax back avoids being taxed on an item twice, once by each country.

 

[plugwash]

Yes, if you buy stuff abroad and bring it back you’re technically importing it and are thus liable to pay Customs Duty, Excise Duty, and VAT on the purchase. Getting the foreign tax back avoids being taxed on an item twice, once by each country.

Unfortunately this has a bit of a hole for two reasons.

1. Most countries have an allowance of at least a few hundred pounds for stuff brought back from abroad, but there is no similar minimum value on the VAT reclaim system.
2. Many travellers don't declare stuff even if they should.

The result is that people who travel internationally a lot get to effectively dodge the sales tax/VAT on a bunch of medium-value purchases.

 

[Jamiescott1]

Theres also automated announcements in mandarin at marylebone for bicester Village trains.
I think they say oyster cards are not valid to bicester as amongst the madarin they mention "oyster cards".
Theres also a bicester village employee based at Marylebone too.

Pity they can't translate quiet zone too

 

[Railwaysceptic]

Must admit I do not understand why we allow such refunds. They are luxury goods, and if we feel luxury goods should be taxed, they should be taxed for everyone.

VAT is reclaimable on exports.

 

[_toommm_]

VAT is reclaimable on exports.

Although VAT refunds on exports are a bit more convoluted, and aren’t done by the store itself, but the shipping company.

I’ve just been reading through the process to get a refund at the village, and the village takes a very heavy cut compared to other retailers. They only receive 9% to 14% back using Global Blue, but I use Global Blue and it’s much more than that when I issue the forms.

 

[DB]

I'd hate to be a resident in such an area if coach tours kept stopping off. Would get awfully irritating after the novelty had worn off.

Avoid living in certain villages in the Cotswolds then!

 

[Railwaysceptic]

Although VAT refunds on exports are a bit more convoluted, and aren’t done by the store itself, but the shipping company.

I’ve just been reading through the process to get a refund at the village, and the village takes a very heavy cut compared to other retailers. They only receive 9% to 14% back using Global Blue, but I use Global Blue and it’s much more than that when I issue the forms.

I'm retired now and possibly am not up to date. In my day companies above a certain size had a VAT account with Customs & Excise, later HMRC. The system was very simple. The VAT return listed the total VAT paid to suppliers and the total VAT charged to customers. The difference between the two was paid to HMRC.

Exports to outside the EU are not subject to VAT and so exporting companies do not charge VAT. They need proof that the goods have been exported and a shipping document is required for that purpose. Undoubtedly in those situations where the customer takes the goods out of the country by hand and no shipping document is created, a different form of proof of export will be needed. I don't know what that is currently but the shops at Bicester Village will have a VAT account (because their suppliers are charging them VAT!) and they do not need to charge VAT on exports.

 

[plugwash]

My understanding is that the way tax-free shopping for visitors, more properly known as "retail export" works is that the customer is initially charged VAT, then they get a form stamped by customs on leaving which they submit to the retailer who then retroactively zero-rates the transaction.

Many retailers don't want to deal with this themselves, so they work with agencies like "global blue" who take a cut of the refund.

 

[_toommm_]

My understanding is that the way tax-free shopping for visitors, more properly known as "retail export" works is that the customer is initially charged VAT, then they get a form stamped by customs on leaving which they submit to the retailer who then retroactively zero-rates the transaction.

Many retailers don't want to deal with this themselves, so they work with agencies like "global blue" who take a cut of the refund.

The company I work for use Global Blue, indeed I’m the one of the ones who does the form. But the cut the customer gets is nowhere near as low as the cut at Bicester.

 

[_toommm_]

M&S however do it in house - a customer asks for a VAT receipt before putting their card in, the staff ask for the customer’s ID, then the form is printed out on till receipt stock.

 

[jimm]

Could well be the case. At present it's rather hemmed in by the ring road, but I guess there are plans to "Milton Keynes-ise" it a bit by building outside of there. There's certainly some new-build down by, er, Bicester Village.

A bit? A lot more like.

This map shows the extent of the planned development areas at Bicester under the current Local Plan. By the mid-2030s, the population is expected to increase from 35,000 or so now to around 60,000 if all the houses get built.

https://lvca.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Key-Policies-Map-Bicester.pdf

 

[Railwaysceptic]

A bit? A lot more like.

This map shows the extent of the planned development areas at Bicester under the current Local Plan. By the mid-2030s, the population is expected to increase from 35,000 or so now to around 60,000 if all the houses get built.

https://lvca.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Key-Policies-Map-Bicester.pdf

Then the local authority and Network Rail really do need to do something about that level crossing!

 

[The Planner]

Then the local authority and Network Rail really do need to do something about that level crossing!

Plenty of options/solutions have been come up with but no one appears to agree on them.

 

[eMeS]

...
Bicester I find a bit of an odd place these days. It used to be a fairly quaint market town, a Newport Pagnell sort of place, but then they added the big Sainsbury's and cinema complex and multi-storey car park which are on a different scale and don't seem to fit.

Back in the 1980s the company I worked for in Milton Keynes secured a sizeable contract with the Chinese Air Force, and we had around 12 Chinese engineers living in Milton Keynes, and their real interest was to shop at the local Milton Keynes Argos - perhaps it was the idea of studying the then paper Argos catalogue at their home which was attractive. (Only one of the group was fluent in English.)

 

[Railwaysceptic]

Plenty of options/solutions have been come up with but no one appears to agree on them.

With Bicester's planned expansion coming closer each year, the interested parties should recognise there is an increasingly urgent need to agree on something which will work and will have only moderate adverse side-effects. Possibly Network Rail need to bite the bullet and agree to lower the water instead of raising the bridge even if that means comprehensively rebuilding the new station. The local authority would have to help pay for it.

 

[jimm]

Then the local authority and Network Rail really do need to do something about that level crossing!

But the local authority, Network Rail and the East West Rail Company - as the EWR phase 2 work is their responsibility, not Network Rail's - were told in February by the Department for Transport that they don't see a need to do anything.

DESPITE councillors’ efforts to push for a solution to delays at a level crossing on a busy Bicester road, the Government does not feel it is necessary and has given the green light to phase two of East West Rail works.

Bicester’s London Road level crossing has been a topic of debate for years with drivers complaining about the length of barrier down time causing them delays....

....But the Secretary for Transport, Grant Shapps, announced on Tuesday that there is ‘insufficient evidence’ for an alternative crossing to replace it.

Drivers to face more level crossing misery as next rail works plans given go ahead

DESPITE councillors’ efforts to push for a solution to delays at a level crossing on a busy Bicester road, the Government does not feel it is…

www.bicesteradvertiser.net

Plenty of options/solutions have been come up with but no one appears to agree on them.

There ia preference for an underpass and Network Rail and the county council did development work on a couple of options in 2016-17 after the idea of a road bridge, whether at the crossing or west of Bicester Village station, was put on the back burner. The report makes clear an underpass would come with a big price tag for construction, buying up adjacent properties to provide enough room and diverting utilities that run under the road and the level crossing.

https://www2.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/sites/default/files/folders/documents/roadsandtransport/majorprojects/KeyFindingsReport.pdf

Some sort of pedestrian/cycle/buggy ramped bridge at the level crossing would probably take much of the heat out of the issue, as motorists will use the bridges elsewhere in the town to avoid getting stuck if the barriers are going to be down for 45 minutes each hour.

 

[Railwaysceptic]

If Grant Shapps and the DfT really believe there is no need to do anything, they are even more obtuse and incompetent than is generally acknowledged! Already queues of vehicles build up at that level crossing. East West Rail will increase the number of trains and the increase in people living locally will cause more vehicles to use the crossing. A child of ten or eleven could foresee future difficulties.

 

[Ianno87]

If Grant Shapps and the DfT really believe there is no need to do anything, they are even more obtuse and incompetent than is generally acknowledged! Already queues of vehicles build up at that level crossing. East West Rail will increase the number of trains and the increase in people living locally will cause more vehicles to use the crossing. A child of ten or eleven could foresee future difficulties.

*Or* keeping the level crossing might deter people driving through town (and thus congestion) in the first place.

No point providing a free-flowing bridge only to snarl up the town that way instead.

 

[Railwaysceptic]

*Or* keeping the level crossing might deter people driving through town (and thus congestion) in the first place.

No point providing a free-flowing bridge only to snarl up the town that way instead.

People live in Bicester. For the most part they're not driving from one outer extremity to another. Road congestion is normally caused by one of two factors: far more vehicles than the infrastructure can process or traffic is not allowed to move freely. This level crossing is a prime example of the latter. I suggest we let the people who live there decide what is their best option.

 

[Ianno87]

People live in Bicester. For the most part they're not driving from one outer extremity to another. Road congestion is normally caused by one of two factors: far more vehicles than the infrastructure can process or traffic is not allowed to move freely. This level crossing is a prime example of the latter. I suggest we let the people who live there decide what is their best option.

You'd be suprised how many people would support a bridge, and will then subsequently complain about traffic congestion, and not make a connection the two.

General folk don't understand the principles of traffic flow and induced demand.

 

[Andyjs247]

People live in Bicester. For the most part they're not driving from one outer extremity to another. Road congestion is normally caused by one of two factors: far more vehicles than the infrastructure can process or traffic is not allowed to move freely. This level crossing is a prime example of the latter. I suggest we let the people who live there decide what is their best option.

The best option is generally agreed to be a tunnel under the railway. Problem is nobody can agree who should pay. It needs to be agreed between Network Rail, Oxfordshire County Council, England’s Economic Heartland, DfT etc. Doing nothing is not an option; meanwhile we are where we are.