Shipping IKEA furniture
 

Hey everyone,

I've been reading this forum for a while now as I'm a New Zealander who has convinced my British partner to move to NZ and I wanted to find out what might be tough for him in the transition! So thank you- your posts have sparked many conversations for us, and I could definitely relate to some as adjusting was a struggle when I moved to the UK.

I've already moved back home and he will follow me early next year. We're a young couple, getting married next year, will shortly be looking to buy our first home. We don't have a lot of household items in the UK as we were very aware that we would be moving/we lived very simply to save up our house deposit. However, knowing what I do of NZ, I'd like to buy a dozen or so pieces from IKEA to ship. I'm not sure how exactly to go about it. It seems like we can either buy the furniture now, he can use it and we'll be able to ship it free from GST...Or we can leave it flat packed, pay GST in NZ and hopefully get a VAT refund? Has anyone tried the latter?

Re: Shipping IKEA furniture
 

We bought a load of Ikea furniture prior to moving here, and put it in the shipping container with the rest of our stuff. For each Ikea box, we opened it, made sure everything was there (screws, dowels, etc) and then taped it back up, having never used it. We were never charged GST for it as it looked pre-used. Just a thought.... ;)

Re: Shipping IKEA furniture
 

We are going through the same process, I was in Ikea Wembley today (5 hours) and after speaking to customer service I was pleasantly surprised that Ikea has a process for claiming back VAT. Their customer info sheet for VAT refunds state that IKEA can refund VAT if the evidence below is shown within 3 months from the date the item was purchased.

1.) Proof of goods purchased and value of refundable VAT (Copy of receipt itemising the goods purchased)
2.) Proof that goods were exported (Certificate of shipment stating all items on order receipt were shipped)
3.) Information on mode of transport and route of movement
4.) Evidence of residency outside UK (evidence of residency outside UK, statement that you are 'not resident in the UK' with copies of a utility bill outside the EU.

I am just going through this process and do not anticipate any problems. I do not plan to repack the things I bought and will likely have to pay for NZ GST. Hope this piece of info helps.

Re: Shipping IKEA furniture
 

Thank you to you both! That gives us options to get on with :)