Many travel companies, tour operators and MICE industry professionals do not know that they can claim VAT back on some of their and their clients foreign travel and meetings expenditure. Or, they just don’t know where to begin to do this. If you don’t have a VAT reclaim policy in place, now is the perfect time to investigate if you qualify to reclaim what can be substantial amounts of VAT – in some cases going back more than one year.

Most companies outsource their VAT reclaim process due to the administrative work involved as well as differing legislation and languages used in multiple countries. One of the leading companies you can contact is VAT IT who will advise on what you are entitled to claim and in what destinations.

VAT recovery for the MICE industry: If your business is involved in the MICE industry, you can reclaim VAT charged by suppliers in foreign countries. When your business engages directly with a foreign supplier on behalf of your clients, it is likely the supplier will include local VAT charges on their invoices. VAT IT can assist either the MICE company or the client of the MICE company.

VAT recovery for Tour Operators: The VAT incurred on the purchase of various travel components, including hotels and car rental, which are then sold by Tour Operators to foreign travelers are refundable in certain EU countries.

Foreign VAT on Travel & Entertainment (T&E):  Some claims are allowed on international T&E expenses connected to business trips. Up to 25% of these T&E expenses can be claimed resulting in considerable savings to a business.

VAT on Conferences, Trade shows and Events: One of the most frequent costs that a travel business incurs is attending trade shows, exhibitions or conferences and when these are held overseas, the foreign VAT can add up. There is no reason why a company should be incurring these VAT costs.

VAT Recovery Opportunities & the Tour Operator Margin Scheme (TOMS)

Offering to assist clients with VAT recovery can be a great way to differentiate yourself as a DMC. Although the European Commission has instituted TOMS precluding MICE companies from recovering their VAT, a few opportunities still remain:

Each European country applies the laws of TOMS slightly differently but one thing most agree upon is that conference and event-related transactions do qualify for VAT reclaim. Specifically, this refers to venue hire, audiovisual services, catering, furniture rental etc.

VAT IT have over 20 years of experience in foreign VAT reclaim, assisting 13,000 clients worldwide in over 117 countries. For more information, visit their website www.vatit.com or contact them directly to see where they can assist Chava.Alter@vatit.com.