GLOBAL REFUND TAX RETURN
If you have visitors from the United States or any country outside the European Union who go on a shopping spree in Poland, they may be eligible for a value-added tax (VAT) refund paid on the goods and exported in their personal luggage.
How does the Global Refund work?
1. The service is available at stores bearing the TAX FREE SHOPPING logo. In order to claim a VAT refund, you will need two forms (available at stores displaying the TAX FREE logo): a Global Refund Check (green form) and a fiscal proof of purchase (paragon). VAT rates in Poland are: 3%, 7% and 22%. Tax is only refunded on goods (not on gasoline or any services) of at least 200 PLN (Polish zlotys) value bought in a single purchase. A handling fee is deducted at the time of refund (9%-40% of VAT paid).
2. Goods need to be exported from the EU not later than on the last day of the third month after the month of purchase.
3. Purchase has to be declared at the Customs office at air, sea or land border crossing point to get it validated. You will be asked to present the goods (not used, with price tags), your passport and ticket/boarding pass, Global Refund Check and the shop receipt (paragon). The customs officer will place two stamps on Global Refund document: the personal stamp and the rectangular one marked “VAT-ZWROT”.
4. In Poland you can only receive your refund in zlotys (at Okęcie Airport the Global Refund office is situated in the Transit Hall between gates 10 and 11, opposite W. Kruk Jewelers, phone: (22) 650-2635, hours: Monday-Sunday 6:00-22:00. At Balice Airport in Kraków you can receive your refund at "Currency Express" Exchange Office, phone: (12) 639-3257 open Monday-Sunday from 6:30- 21:00.)
5. If you apply for refund on tax paid in other EU countries, you can mail the Global Refund Check (after it has been validated by Customs in Warsaw) with your credit card number to the appropriate country to receive the refund directly on your credit card. Somebody else in Poland can also collect the Polish refund for you if authorized in writing (a copy of your passport is required).
If Poland is your last EU stop before returning to the United States, you must reclaim your EU VAT refunds in Poland. If you are traveling to the United States with a stop-over in any other European Union country you can only receive your refund in Poland if (1) you do not leave the duty-free transit area at the other airport or (2) your purchase is checked in Warsaw to the point of their destination (they need to obtain the customs stamp before they check their luggage). It is best to pack your purchases in your checked baggage: if you carry your purchase in your hand luggage, you can apply for a refund only at your last stop in the European Union, even if that is only a transit stop.
European Union countries are: Poland, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Refund offices at Polish land borders only operate between Poland and Russia, Ukraine and Belarus (see: http://www.globalrefund.com for a listing). Due to elimination of the borders within the European Union all other refund points closed on September 1, 2004.
Global Refund Tax Return does not operate in the United States. There is no refund office in the USA.
For information on tax free shopping schemes in other countries please contact Global Refund Services at the web address above or by telephone at (22) 853-3755 (Warsaw Headquarters).
Happy tax-free shopping!
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