For faster tracking of your Tax Free shopping refund enter your Tax Free form details below. Do not include any spaces or hyphens - just the numbers and letters only.
If you have a query about your tax refund progress, please click here.
For Tax Free shopping in the United Arab Emirates, please visit the dedicated UAE website by clicking here.
For Tax Free shopping in the Finland, please visit our Finland webpage.
We are sorry but barcode number:
was not found in our system.
For more information, please click here to provide the details from your Tax Free form(s), or email us here
Each of our Tax Free forms has a unique number - you can usually find it at the top of your form.
If you need further help, please use the links below:
We have not received a qualifying Tax Free form for your VAT refund, and as a result we will / have debited your account according to the Terms and Conditions that you signed when receiving the refund in cash.
For additional information please refer to this page.
If you have any other queries, please contact our customer services team by providing the details from your Tax Free form(s) on this Tax Free enquiry page.
Your Tax Free form has been received successfully and we're processing your refund. If you selected one of the following refund methods, please allow 30 days to receive your refund:
If you do not receive the amount after 30 days, or have any other queries, please contact our customer services team by providing the details from your Tax Free form(s) on this Tax Free enquiry page.
We are waiting to receive your stamped Tax Free form.
Please ensure you have sent us the original stamped Tax Free form to one of our offices. See a full list of our available country offices.
If you have sent your Tax Free form recently, please allow up to 30 days for the process to be completed.
If you have any other queries, please contact our customer services team by providing the details from your Tax Free form(s) on this Tax Free enquiry page.
We have issues processing your Tax Free form, please contact our Customer Support team by providing the details from your Tax Free form(s) on this Tax Free enquiry page.
We have received your qualifying Tax Free form and recredited your account. Please note that recredits may be subject to additional fees.
If you have any other queries, please contact our customer services team by providing the details from your Tax Free form(s) on this Tax Free enquiry page https://www.planetpayment.com/en/tax-refund-customer-services/
We have received your Tax free form and paid your refund by one of the following refund methods:
The refunding process is now complete.
If you have any other queries, please contact our customer services team by providing the details from your Tax Free form(s) on this Tax Free enquiry page https://www.planetpayment.com/en/tax-refund-customer-services/
We have paid your refund by one of the following refund methods:
Please allow up to 10 working days for the refund to appear on your account. If you have any other queries, please contact our customer services team by providing the details from your Tax Free form(s) on this Tax Free enquiry page https://www.planetpayment.com/en/tax-refund-customer-services/
We have received your Tax Free form and the refunding process is now complete.
Your refund amount was deducted from the original purchase amount at the time of purchase in the store.
If you have any other queries, please contact our customer services team by providing the details from your Tax Free form(s) on this Tax Free enquiry page https://www.planetpayment.com/en/tax-refund-customer-services/
The Travel and Tourism industry accounts for 11% as a proportion of UK GDP (£230bn annually), employing 1.5m people or 5% of the workforce. [1] The industry is already vulnerable to uncertainty related to Brexit, trade tensions and now the planned abolition of the tourist VAT refund scheme [2].
HMRC was informed of the impact to the high street, travel retailers, travel industry and UK retailers of abolishing the VAT RES as part of the consultation on the future of tax free shopping in the United Kingdom.
So why have they chosen to threaten the jobs and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of families across the UK? The UK government’s decision will effectively be the spark for thousands more redundancies in the Retail, Hospitality, Leisure, and Travel and Tourism sectors.
The tourist VAT refund scheme promotes the UK as a shopping destination, driving up footfall for retail stores and transaction values.
While the UK government makes plans to abolish our VAT scheme, EU nations - including France – are taking full advantage by extending their own schemes. France has made the decision to lower the minimum purchase threshold that triggers a Tax Free sale from €175.01 to €100.00 [3]. This change will take affect from 1 January, 2021.
The Travel and Tourism industry accounts for 11% as a proportion of UK GDP (£230bn annually), employing 1.5m people or 5% of the workforce. We fail to understand why a decision would be made to reduce tourism in any way.
We know that when Greece lowered their threshold spend for Tax Free shopping in 2016, the result was a widespread increase in tourist spending.
Should HM Treasury abolish tourist VAT refunds, it would logically follow that the reverse scenario would apply and spend would be reduced at all levels.
Our data from Greece, which reduced the minimum spend level to €50, points very strongly to how all levels of spending (including those in excess of the threshold) are impacted by changes to the VAT scheme.
The positive economic impact experienced by Greece from expanding their tourist VAT scheme - and soon to also be experienced by France - lies in stark contrast to the government's plan to abolish tourist VAT refunds in the UK.
Read a letter to the Chancellor from the Association of Business and Retail Sales of Greece
While the UK's decision curtails tourist spending and threatens economic recovery - at a time when our high streets are suffering the most - other countries are expanding and modernising their tourist VAT refund schemes.
Digital customs infrastructure is in place in France, Italy, Turkey, Spain and Portugal for international tourists to shop Tax Free. This means that international spenders can enjoy a fully digital Tax Free shopping experience in these countries.
The UK has an opportunity to digitise and extend VAT RES policy to include residents of EU member states This represents an additional 24m visitors, presently spending £11.3bn, who would be eligible to shop Tax Free within the UK.[5]
We're calling on the government to support the recovery of the high street and Travel & Tourism in these most challenging of times, and reverse their decision to abolish the VAT RES.
The decision of the British government to end the VAT Retail Export Scheme - which allows international visitors to claim VAT when exporting the goods bought in the UK - will mean UK businesses being less competitive across Continental Europe. Chinese, Russian, Arab and American tourists will start to travel again in 2021 to Europe. If for them the same luxury goods will be around 20% more expensive in London compared to prices in Paris, Milan or Munich, they will simply stop shopping in the UK. UK retailer and the hotel and tourism industry will suffer at a moment when the pandemic and Brexit are already making their life difficult. This policy decision is an own goal for the UK.
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt FRGS FRAS, CEO, COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute
If you are a merchant who would like to join the cause and fight to reverse this decision, please get in touch with us.
[1] WTTC
[2] https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2020-09-11/hcws448
[4] Planet Intelligence
[5] Oxford Economics, sourced by Planet Intelligence team.
