Shirley Consuelo Honajzrová Banús – Institute of Hospitality Management in Prague, Svídnická 506, 181 00 Prague 8, Czech Republic
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/EMAN.S.P.2020.127
4th International Scientific Conference – EMAN 2020 – Economics and Management: How to Cope With Disrupted Times, Online/Virtual, September 3, 2020, SELECTED PAPERS published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans, Belgrade, Serbia; ISBN 978-86-80194-31-8, ISSN 2683-4510
Abstract:
The presented contribution focuses on describing the Value Added Tax refund to foreign
tourists, specifically the Tax-Free Shopping incentive, that increases tourists’ propensity to buy retail
goods where shopping can even sometimes be the primary reason for traveling. To have a practical
analysis and comparison, four economies from South America were chosen. Colombia and Ecuador
whose tax-refund system is entirely operated by the State and Argentina and Uruguay whose governments
have decided to outsource their VAT refund service to tourists having private companies operate
them. Adding to this, an evaluation of the main characteristics of these countries regarding the competitiveness
of their tourism sector was gathered with data obtained from the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness
Index (TTCI) Report (2019). The findings of this research provide a benchmark to tourism
policymakers interested in assessing changes overtime on this type of incentive.
Keywords:
Tax system, Tourism, VAT Refund. Tax-Free Shopping.
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