VAT

[Vagabond51]

We were reading through last years Med Iconic Shores Viking Daily's a kind CC member put up on Dropbox. Very informative. One of the notices caught our eye. Purchases made aboard ship while sailing around Italy will have a 22% VAT collected. Instructions for mail back refunds were also explained. Given I keep checking my mailbox for an Italian government VAT refund from a substantial purchase of a gold necklace on the Ponte Vecchio for my sweetie 16 years ago I believe they are still processing the paperwork. Does anyone know if Greece, France, Croatia or Spain have similar revenue sources? Always good to be aware of these little

gems. Thanks!

 

Edited April 1, 2023 by Vagabond51

[KBs mum]

26 minutes ago, Vagabond51 said:

We were reading through last years Med Iconic Shores Viking Daily's a kind CC member put up on Dropbox. Very informative. One of the notices caught our eye. Purchases made aboard ship while sailing around Italy will have a 22% VAT collected. Instructions for mail back refunds were also explained. Given I keep checking my mailbox for an Italian government VAT refund from a substantial purchase of a gold necklace on the Ponte Vecchio for my sweetie 16 years ago I believe they are still processing the paperwork. Does anyone know if Greece, France, Croatia or Spain have similar revenue sources? Always good to be aware of these little

gems. Thanks!

 

You'd normally have to claim before leaving the territory of the country in question, and it's up to them what is duty/tax free or not

[-Lew-]

You need to process your VAT claim at the final EU port of call of your cruise in the case of a TA or the airport you're flying out of the EU.  In either case you need to complete a document and present that along with receipts and the retail goods to government officials.  If all is in order, they will stamp the document and you will mail it in the envelope provided for reimbursement.  

 

Download the Global Blue smartphone app for more information.

[Sunny429]

I thought purchases made on board were duty free, as the shops don’t open until the ship is at sea. You will most likely have to account for overseas purchases upon arrival at your home country.

[-Lew-]

1 minute ago, Sunny429 said:

I thought purchases made on board were duty free, as the shops don’t open until the ship is at sea. You will most likely have to account for overseas purchases upon arrival at your home country.

 

I believe you'll find that VAT and duty are two different things.  We were on the Celebrity Edge last fall for three segments...we had to pay VAT in the onboard shops for only the second segment which, we were told, was triggered by one of the countries we stopped at during that segment.  No VAT was charged for the first and third segments.

 

Before we arrived at our final EU port, Ponta Delgada, Celebrity provided us with the completed document with copies on the receipts attached.  They also arranged to bring government officials onboard to process the forms.  Couldn't have been easier.

 

It took about four weeks until our refunds were EFTed to our checking account.

[Sunny429]

12 hours ago, -Lew- said:

 

I believe you'll find that VAT and duty are two different things.  We were on the Celebrity Edge last fall for three segments...we had to pay VAT in the onboard shops for only the second segment which, we were told, was triggered by one of the countries we stopped at during that segment.  No VAT was charged for the first and third segments.

 

Before we arrived at our final EU port, Ponta Delgada, Celebrity provided us with the completed document with copies on the receipts attached.  They also arranged to bring government officials onboard to process the forms.  Couldn't have been easier.

 

It took about four weeks until our refunds were EFTed to our checking account.

Thank you for clarifying this for me.