Uruguay is the pioneer in Latin America in the self-management of Tax Free. The country has innovated and introduced a digital self-management device to refund value-added tax (VAT) under the Tax Free regime to tourists who leave the country at some ports, airports and customs borders with other countries. Carrasco airport in Montevideo and the city of Salto, border with Argentina, were the first stations to receive the terminal of self-management and by the end of the year will be three more points: Fray Bentos, port of Colonia Del Sacramento and port of Montevideo .
With the new digital validation system, the Tax Free operation will be carried out in real time, minimizing errors in the input of tourist information, optimizing the time of customs officials and eliminating the insertion of data and its subsequent processing .
In addition, the new system streamlines the process of exit of the tourist that can impute the data in the terminal, and the company responsible for the whole process, Global Blue, can check the processes at each point in real time, as it provides data Performance statistics capable of detecting possible errors.
Global Blue and Uruguay
Global Blue Argentina, which holds the operations in Uruguay, is a subsidiary of a company of Swiss origin, with presence in 36 countries. They are responsible for the entire process of returning VAT to tourists in Uruguay since 2012. According to MEF Decree No. 7393 of November 8 of the same year, it was awarded a new bidding in March 2016.
This new technology is an important step in the complete digitalization of the Tax Free process that the company carries out in Uruguay. Being the first in Latin America to deploy self validation kiosks.
How to get the benefit of Tax Free
Taxes are returned only to foreign tourists, when required by the visitor in the commercial offices authorized by the General Tax Office (DGI). Each trade must fill out a form and deliver together the invoice of the purchase. The documents, when the processes done manually, should be presented at the posts of the National Customs Directorate. Or, currently, in self-management terminals of Tax Free existing in the airport of Carrasco and the border of Salto.
The return of the money of the IVA is not carried out in the hour, but in five useful days after the information of the credit card number in the customs, in case of acceptance of the request made by the customs inspector.
The return of VAT occurs only for purchases of products with values above 600 Uruguayan pesos (approximately 21 dollars).
Exit points practicing tax refunds
The exit points of Uruguay that can carry out the tax return are: Carrasco International Airport, Laguna Del Sauce Airport, Puerto de Montevideo, Port of Colonia Del Sacramento, Punta del Este Cruise Terminal, Salto-Concordia Bridge , Ponte Paysandú-Colón, Ponte Fray Bentos – Porto Unzué and Chuy.
Photo: Reproduction