Duty free and Tax free: what’s the difference ?

When buying a product, we are still obliged to pay the value added tax - VAT. Abroad, this is called VAT (Value Added Tax). The tax rate in various countries ranges from 5% to 25%. At the same time, the governments of some countries exempt tourists from paying VAT. One of the simplest and most popular ways is to create stores. These stores are, practically, in all places of tourist congestion: international airports, special tourist centers, airplanes. One of the features of the Duty Free location is that all of its customers have already passed passport and customs control and will soon be leaving the country. It is more profitable to buy products here because the price does not include VAT. It turns out that duty-free shopping centers are located in the city. In this case, the tourist will have to present a passport and a ticket before his purchase. The system is very popular and practical, but its range is generally limited to alcoholic beverages, perfumes, certain foods, etc. However, the demands of tourists being much broader, a system of refunding the value added tax appeared. The conditions of access to this service differ from one country to another, but most countries apply similar rules. First, duty-free service is available only to non-residents, whose length of visit to a given state does not exceed 90 days. In some countries, such as Switzerland and Italy, this period is reduced to one or two months. Stateless persons holding a student visa or working visa or residence permit can not use the return system. There are no nationalities in the duty-free system. For example, a Czech citizen can travel to Europe and make purchases using the VAT refund system. But for citizens of the European Union, the next rule is: it does not matter if you are a resident of which EU country, you are not allowed to use the service on its territory. In addition, the list of products and services for the duty-free system is limited. Each country has its own list, but almost everywhere alcohol and tobacco products are not included. And yet: there is always a minimum purchase price, as well as the duration of a special check. Thus, in Germany, it is 30 euros and 3 years from the date of purchase, and in Switzerland 300 euros and only one month.