The UAE is a major shopping destination in the world. In order to encourage tourists to travel to the UAE, the VAT rules stipulate a tourist refund program, according to which the VAT paid by tourists when purchasing goods in the UAE will be refunded to them. Although the UAE has not implemented a tourist refund program, let us understand the rules and applicability of the tourist refund program.

What is the tourist refund program?

The UAE Tourist Refund Program is a VAT refund program applicable to “overseas tourists” visiting the UAE. The value-added tax paid by overseas tourists on goods purchased in the UAE will be refunded to them.

Who are “overseas tourists”?

The term “overseas tourist” refers to a natural person who does not live in any GCC VAT-implementing country, and is not a crew member who leaves the GCC VAT-implementing country by plane or plane. Therefore, this does not include tourists from countries that implement GCC VAT and crew members who leave GCC VAT implementation countries by plane or plane.

What are the conditions for being eligible for this program?

The conditions for qualifying for the UAE Travel Refund Program are as follows:

a. During the purchase of goods from a supplier, overseas tourists should be in the UAE-this means that tourists requesting a refund of VAT should live in the UAE in person at the time of purchase.

b. Overseas tourists intend to leave the UAE within 90 days from the date of purchase of the goods and accompanied the goods-this means that tourists requesting a refund of the value-added tax should leave the UAE within 90 days from the date of purchase. Goods, and goods.

C. Within 3 months from the date of provision, the product is exported by an overseas tourist to a place outside the GCC VAT implementation country-this means that the goods purchased by the overseas tourist should be transferred to a place outside the GCC VAT implementation country for purchase within 3 days Within a few months from the date of the commodity.

Therefore, the tourist refund program is a very attractive program for tourists coming to the UAE. It aims to stimulate tourists to shop in the UAE. It is expected to be designed in such a way that passengers can receive a refund of value added tax when they leave the airport, similar to the European Union (EU). As the government is conducting a feasibility study on it, the plan has not yet been implemented. As a result, we still don’t know the details of the refund process, the implementation date, etc. Therefore, tourists who visited the UAE before the implementation of the tourist refund program will not be able to recover the VAT paid on goods purchased in the UAE. Another important point to note is that the UAE’s tourist refund program is not applicable to tourists from countries that implement GCC value-added tax. They will not be able to recover the VAT purchased in the UAE.