Retail export scheme

How do retailers operate the scheme?

There are two ways in which a retailer can operate the scheme, you can: 

• operate the scheme yourself
• or
• use a refund agent.

If you operate the scheme, you will charge Value-Added Tax (VAT) on the sale, and return VAT as normal in your VAT return.

When proof is received that the goods have been exported and all conditions of the scheme have been met, you will then refund the VAT to the tourist or traveller and take a credit in your VAT return.

The second way is that you enter into an agreement with a refund agent whereby you make a concurrent sale to the tourist or traveller and the refund agent. You complete and retain the necessary documentation to evidence the sale and return the VAT as normal in your VAT return.

What proof do you require to evidence a tourist or a traveller?

You must record and retain the following records as proof the purchaser is a tourist or a traveller:

• the date of arrival of the tourist or traveller in the European Union (EU)
• the intended date of departure of the tourist or traveller from the EU
• the number of the tourist’s or traveller’s passport
• the permanent address of the tourist or traveller outside the EU
• a signed declaration that the tourist or traveller is not resident within the EU at the time of the purchase, or if resident, that:
  • he or she intends to take up residence outside the EU for a period of at least 12 consecutive months
  • and
  • the goods will be taken outside of the EU when he or she departs from its territory.

What do you issue in relation to each sale?

You must issue and retain a copy of the export voucher issued to the tourist or traveller. You must also retain the following information in relation to each sale:

• the name and permanent address of the tourist or traveller
• the date of the transaction
• a description of the goods supplied
• the amount of the purchase and the amount of the VAT charged, or VAT Off if this applies
• the signature of the tourist or traveller
• the rate of exchange or the method to be used to determine the rate, if the refund is to be made in a currency other than the Euro.

In no circumstances, should blank retail export scheme documentation be given to a tourist or traveller for subsequent completion.

Where you do not use a refund agent, and you make a refund to the tourist or traveller, you must retain the following:

• the net amount actually refunded to the tourist or traveller
• the actual exchange rate used
• the date and method of the repayment. 

What happens if the sale is voided or reversed?

Where a sale is voided, for example, where goods are returned, you must obtain the original copies of any documentation, including original receipts that you issued to the tourist or traveller.

Next: What is a refund agent?