Nice perk for expats

Monday, 12 Feb 2007 | Miscellaneous

We all know the concept of tax-free shopping in the airport. Not everyone is aware of tax-free shopping in the country you are visiting. It is pretty much the same thing, but instead of buying it at overpriced airport shops you get your new toys anywhere you want. When leaving the country, you go to the tax-refund desk at the airport and ask for the added sales tax, VAT, BTW or whatever applies in that country. In countries like the Netherlands, something like that can be as much as 19%. In other countries however, like Hong Kong (not a country, I know), the sales tax is 0% and so you get nothing.

The good thing for people who travel a lot is that they can do this every time they fly on an international flight, except when leaving their passport country. Actually, even then you can shop tax-free, but only at those overpriced airport shops. Which of course is very good news for me, because I live far away from my passport country and will be flying quite a lot this year. So things that are expensive enough to make that hassle worth while, such as a new laptop computer, become a little cheaper just because you are not living in your passport country.

Mind you, there are certain conditions for getting this refund. They differ for each country. But if you’re planning on getting something nice and the sales tax in that country makes it worth while: research it!