Il rimborso IVA per i turisti

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Il rimborso IVA per i turisti

Messaggio da leggereda malpensante » ven 14 mag 2021, 13:01:36

Apr 29, 2021,11:27am EDT
The EU May End A Clandestine Revenue Stream For Luxury Retailers
Ike Brannon

A complaint filed last month with the European Commission has sounded an alarm for the continent's luxury stores and exclusive retail brands.

The complaint objects to how the VAT refunds for foreign tourists are currently processed, which it describes as anti-competitive. EU countries currently allow foreign tourists to obtain a refund of their value-added taxes for the goods they purchased, which average 21 percent in the EU. The rationale is the VAT exemption encourages them to spend more money while on their visit; If they find it a bargain to shop on vacation, the theory goes, then they will not only buy more handbags, coats, and sweaters but they'll also spend more money on restaurants, hotels, shows, and the like, and pass more time while on vacation.

The problem is that the current system is spectacularly inefficient at accomplishing this, largely because the process has been co-opted by the two VAT refund agents that dominate the field as well as the high-end retailers who profit from this inefficiency.

When a tourist buys a pricey handbag from a luxury store, the store does not process the refund itself; instead, it contracts out to a VAT refund agent to do the transaction. Two VAT refund agents, Global Blue and Planet, dominate the market and compete against one another for these exclusivity deals by providing higher and higher merchant commissions. These kickbacks are financed by the tourist, who is charged higher and higher fees that can exceed half of the entire refund. Global Blue, which controls 70% of this market, is now a NYSE traded company following a 2020 SPAC transaction.

This kickback has become an important profit center for many European retailers: luxury retailers (such as Hermes) get as much as 70 percent of their sales from tourists, and the kickback amounts to around five to seven percent of their retail margins. They would be loath to see it erode.

However, this cozy arrangement may be in jeopardy. In late April a complaint to the European Competition Authority filed by fintech startup Refundit (co-founded by WAZE founder Uri Levine and funded by Amadeus, the travel IT giant) against Global Blue objected to the exclusivity arrangements that many European retailers currently have with their VAT refund agents, labeling them as anti-competitive.

The lawsuit makes clear two uncomfortable facts: first, the current arrangement makes the practice of refunding VAT to foreign tourists quite ineffective at achieving its ostensible purpose, which is to boost tourist spending. If a tourist has to fill out a form, take it to the airport, wait in two queues to get it processed, and then receives less than half of the refund he's entitled to, he's not going to be all that motivated to spend more money or even go through the hassle of claiming the refund to begin with.

The status quo works for the incumbent refund agent and the retailers but no one else, and it's certainly not accomplishing its ostensible goal of increasing tourist spending.

The second uncomfortable fact revealed is the degree to which the current system has been co-opted by the retailers. They are aware that the extent of their profits from the VAT refund system is unseemly and would rather it be kept under wraps, because it becomes politically untenable if people become aware of it.

The alternative would be to revamp the system and abolish such exclusivity arrangements and allow for tourists to apply for refunds by selecting the refund operator of their choice. Such a reform would mean that many more tourists would avail themselves of the refund, and it would also greatly reduce the cost of processing the refund and diminish the leakage from the system.

Refundit currently charges less than ten percent to process refunds using its app, and other fintech startups competing in the market would likely push it even lower.

The retailers will no doubt push to retain the current arrangement with the monopolistic refund agent, but it will be difficult for them to do so except in sotto voce, because status quo is so transparently inefficient that they’d be hard-pressed to come up with a rationale for not wanting to reform the system that empowers their valued customers, the global shoppers other than they like earning more profits.

A more transparent and competitive VAT refund system would benefit tourists and everyone else in the tourism sector.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ikebrannon ... 44772652eb

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I-Alex
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Re: Il rimborso IVA per i turisti

Messaggio da leggereda I-Alex » ven 14 mag 2021, 17:53:07

argomento interessante ma articolato, nel sottobosco del rimborso ci sono poi tantissime truffe
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Iscritto il: gio 10 lug 2008, 18:41:39
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Re: Il rimborso IVA per i turisti

Messaggio da leggereda Mauz » dom 16 mag 2021, 13:17:54

Considerato che il rimborso è sempre più un modo per aggirare i dazi di Importazione nei paesi destinatari, direi che ci sia tutto l'interesse da parte nostra a renderlo il più snello ed efficiente possibile...

Inviato dal mio JSN-L21 utilizzando Tapatalk

Stiamo monitorando attentamente la situazione. (Claudia)


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