Claiming your vat refund in thailand

Like most countries, Thailand also offers VAT benefits to its tourists. This means that when you buy certain commodities from the country, you will be given a certain amount of cash refund depending on the amount you have spent. This VAT refund will only hold good if you have purchased materials from a shop displaying “VAT refund For Tourists” sign.

Here are some of the pros and cons while claiming your VAT refund in Thailand:

* A VAT refund will only apply if the goods purchased are taken out of Thailand within 60 days of purchase.
* When you purchase the goods, ask the sales assistant to complete a VAT refund form, known as the P.P.10, and attach the original tax invoices to that form. Each P.P.10 must show a value of 2,000 Baht or more.
* The total amount claiming for refund must not be less than 5,000 Baht, including VAT.
* You need to show your passport to the sales assistant when you purchase the goods, so that he/she can fill in the above mentioned form.
* When you are requesting the refund, the goods will be thoroughly inspected by customs officers prior to check in.

There are other things you must take care of. Firstly, you will be charged approximately 100 Bahts as fee if you request a cash refund. While for a draft refund an additional drafting fee also applies, for credit card refunds, a 100 Baht fee plus money transfer fee at the rates charged by banks will be charged.

So how will the refund be paid? Well there are two ways. If the refund does not exceed 10,000 Baht then you can have the refund made by cash (Thai Baht), draft, or a credit to your credit card and if the refund total does exceed 10,000 Baht then, refunds will be made by either draft or a credit to your credit card.