International Tax Refund – How to Save Shopping Internationally

One thing that exist in most of the world is the concept of a Value Added Tax or VAT when buying good and services. A VAT is a national sales tax — something that we don’t have here in the United States. VAT are often very expensive – north of 10% in a lot of countries.

In additional to the typical 10% VAT, some municipalities (e.g., city or state) also charge a tax. That means you potentially could be paying close to 20% on top of the list price. So how do you save money shopping internationally? Many countries in the world will refund tourists the VAT. If you shop a lot during your trip, this can be a significant amount of money.

The process is usually for obtaining a refund is as follows:

• Buy over a certain amount (varies by country) at a store, the store will give you a refund form
• At the airport or port of departure, find refund counter and have them mail you a check or refund it to your credit card
• The refund processor will usually take a percentage of the refund

Here’s a list of countries that will refund VAT and links to finding more information about the process:

• Argentina – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Australia – http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page4646.asp
• Austria – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Belgium – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Croatia – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Cyprus – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Czech Republic – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Denmark – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Estonia – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Finland – http://www.globalrefund.com
• France – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Germany – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Greece – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Hungary – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Iceland – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Ireland – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Italy – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Latvia – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Lebanon – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Liechtenstein – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Lithuania – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Luxembourg – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Morocco – http://www.globalrefund.com
• The Netherlands – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Norway – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Poland – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Portugal – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Singapore – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Slovenia – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Slovakia – http://www.globalrefund.com
• South Africa – http://www.taxrefunds.co.za/
• South Korea – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Spain – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Sweden – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Switzerland – http://www.globalrefund.com
• Taiwan – http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002064#h8
• Turkey – http://www.globalrefund.com
• United Kingdom – http://www.globalrefund.com

A few countries have different processes:

• Chile – foreigners are exempt from paying hotel taxes
• Japan – department stores and large chain stores will refund the 5% consumption if you spend more than 10,000 Yen there. Show the clerk your passport and say “Men Zei” to initial the process.

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