Reclaiming VAT/Duty?

[bkehoe]

Hey, I was just looking for some advice from people that have flown in Europe before about the VAT and Tax on fuel. Last week I flew to Ireland, Holland and Germany. In Ireland, at Waterford (EIWF), they were able to sell me Avgas duty and vat free - €1.76/L instead of €2.40.

However in the Netherlands, in Groningen (EHGG) they could only sell it to me for the full price of about €2.50/L. They gave me a receipt and a seperate printout with the VAT displayed on it as they said I'd need it to claim but they didn't know how to. The first time I fuelled there my next destination was Bremen, and then I fuelled again on the way back with Gloucester as my destination, so international flights for both occasions. Total cost of all the fuel I got there was about €350, so I'm quite interested in claiming back what I can!!! ;)

If anyone can give me some advice, I'd really appreciate it.

Cheers, Brendan.

[Mike Cross]

From what you've said I understand your question relates to the Netherlands' tax arrangements and you'd need to research their system to find the answer.

For the UK the answer is here. (http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageExcise_InfoGuides&id=HMCE_CL_000203&propertyType=document)

[IO540]

The answer varies according to where you are.

In the UK, you can claim back duty on the entire content of the fuel tank(s) when going abroad, and it is therefore legitimate for the pump to not charge this duty if they can see that you are departing abroad right away. Not many other countries operate this duty drawback - I have heard that Italy does it but have no idea how one would claim it back... I have certainly never been offered a discount at an Italian pump when leaving Italy.

Claiming back VAT is something else. AIUI, one is not entitled to do that unless it is a business trip and the aircraft operator is a VAT registered person or business. If the plane is owned by such an entity, the VAT will get claimed back as one does in the normal course of business. So, a typical business flight abroad, on a business owned plane, will pay neither the duty nor the VAT.

It is also possible to get duty free avgas in most of Europe, if one produces an AOC at the pump. I always ask about this and always get this answer. The UK is the only exception I know about, where it doesn't work at the pump but AFAIK the business (the AOC holder) does a separate reclaim from HMRC.

I would expect the VAT situation to be similar throughout the EU (reclaim possible only on a business trip) but the duty situation is going to be very variable.

[Fuji Abound]

and the aircraft operator is a VAT registered person or business.

As a minor point of order, the aircraft does not need to be owned by a VAT registered person or business, but clearly the cost of the fuel must be met by someone in this category. (I appreciated you used the word "operator"). In fact it is not even necessary for the pilot to fall into this category.