Tax-free shopping, also called ‘VAT export scheme’, is a heavily regulated activity.
In the EU, tax-free shopping has its basis under European VAT law (Council Directive 2006/112/EC). It allows persons who are resident outside the EU to a refund of the VAT charged on the goods they purchase in the EU when these goods are exported from the EU by the traveler in its personal luggage.
Articles 146 and 147 of Directive 2006/112/EC only provide the overall legal framework in relation to the VAT export scheme, leaving it to each member state to “lay-out the conditions to ensure the correct and straightforward application of those exemptions”.
Therefore, over the last 2 years, the ZappTax team, with the help of tax and VAT experts in each member state, has been engaging with local and national tax and customs authorities to ensure the innovative scheme proposed by ZappTax complies with all EU, national and local tax and customs regulations.
ZappTax has obtained exclusive name-based ‘rulings’ (i.e. authorisations) and/or regulatory clearances from national tax authorities allowing it to operate under the rules of each of the following countries:
ZappTax will continue to work hand in hand with tax and customs authorities to push forward new innovative ways of addressing the challenges of the tax refund ecosystem.
We at ZAPPTAX are serious about preserving the security of our data and your personal information. All information you provide us is stored on our secure servers. These servers are hosted in Europe and ZAPPTAX operates under EU law. For more information, check our privacy policy.
In addition, since ZappTax never actually collects funds from you but instead transfers funds (VAT) back to you, we do not need to ask you for sensitive information such as credit card CVC codes (card verification code) or any password related to your financial information.
Spain
Belgium