Tax-free sales

Tax-free shopping (TFS) is the buying of goods in a foreign country and obtaining a refund of the sales tax which has been collected by the retailer on those goods. The sales tax may be variously described as a sales tax, goods and services tax (GST), value added tax (VAT), or consumption tax.

Promoting tax-free shopping and making it easier for tourists to claim the refund back, has helped to attract travellers to many countries. TFS is subject to national regulations, such as minimum spend and restrictions on the types of products on which it can be claimed. Refunds can only be claimed on goods which are exported. However, buying goods tax free does not mean travellers are exempt from paying applicable taxes on their purchases when they get home.

Global Blue is a global tax-free shopping operator serving approximately 52,000 customers each day, with tax-free shopping services available from more than 320,000 stores in 52 countries worldwide. Other tax-free shopping operators include Premier Tax Free, with participating shops across the 21 EU country and Singapore, Ushop Tax Free (United Kingdom, Ireland, France), Euro Refund Group (Spain, Portugal, Italy), VP Tax Free (Czech and Slovakia), GB Tax Free (United Kingdom), FEXCO Tax Free (Ireland), Euro Free Shopping (France), vatfree.com (Netherlands),Yvesam Tax Refund Services (Mexico).

Fifty-five of the 130 countries that levy VAT/GST allow foreign visitors to have their taxes reimbursed.

Tax-free shopping is currently available in the following countries: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.

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Wikipedia