VAT Tax Spain Italy France

[PHOENIXfire]

What is the VAT tax rates for these countries and I assume that one needs to add it to the sticker price on the product or is it included on the sticker price as a rule. Are certain MED cruise ship purchases charged a VAT and will they be priced in US or EUROS on Oceania Riveria ship. Regards,Russ

[SadieN]

Italy does not add tax to purchases like we do in the States. It is included in the posted price of the item.

 

Items purchased onboard will be billed in the currency the line uses. Ask on the Oceania board.

[LHT28]

Most European countries include the VAT in the price

check the rules for how much you need to spend in order to claim the VAT & where

 

Oceania uses USD onboard

 

In Norway they did have a VAT person come on at the last port of call there to give refunds ..but not all refund companies are created equal ;)

[Tiggertastic]

Hi

 

In the UK and europe, the price on the sticker (on shore) includes the tax already. We don't then add a sales tax.

 

When sailing out of Spain, due to new Spanish rules that came out in 2012, you will get an additional tax added to every purchase that the ship has to pay to Spain.

 

To try an counteract this, the shop tries to display signs discounting the purchase then adding the tax to try and charge the original price (they absorb the tax price) - but not always

 

Spain is presently at 21% but some things are tax exempt

 

I suggest you ask on the cruise board for your ships to see what they are doing - hopefully it has changed but it didnlt on our Epic cruise from Barcelona

 

We sailed out of Italy last October and were not charged any extra.

 

Sorry can;t say about france as the ship works on its embarkation port only

 

So the bad news if you embark out of Spain is that the tax is there for the entire cruise

 

Same happens in the UK - only if you sail out of the UK and don't leave the UK or Ireland, we get charged VAT and they don't allow us a duty free allowance as we are classed as not leaving the country.

 

Saying that we paid extra tax going out of New Orleans and New York until we passed a certain marker

[Alex71]

Most cruises include a non-EU port such as Tunis, Istanbul or Dubrovnik so that they don't have to charge VAT.

 

As stated above, the VAT always has to be included in the advertised price rather than being added after the fact. You might be able to reclaim the VAT you've paid on some of your purchases before before you fly back, but this only applies to items you take back with you and not to anything you consume while in the EU.

[Scrapnana]

Getting back the Value Added Tax (VAT) is often more trouble than it is worth unless you have purchased something big or made a lot of purchases.