Taxes & Tax Refund

- Taxes are usually included in the prices of hotel rooms, restaurant meals, and items purchased in shops.
- The price on the tag is what you’ll pay at the register.
- The airport departure tax, about 600 Kc, is usually included in the price of airline tickets.
- The Czech V.A.T. is called DPH (dan z pridané hodnoty), and there are two rates.
- The higher one (19%) covers nearly everything – gifts, souvenirs, clothing, and food in restaurants. Food in grocery stores and books are taxed by 5%.

Tax Refund
- Exported goods are exempt from the tax, which can be refunded.
- All tourists outside the EU are entitled to claim the tax back if they spend more than 2,500 Kc in one shop on the same day.
- When making a purchase, ask for a V.A.T. refund form and find out whether the merchant gives refunds – not all stores do, nor are they required to.
- Have the form stamped like any customs form by customs officials when you leave the country or, if you’re visiting several European Union countries, when you leave the EU.
- After you’re through passport control, take the form to a refund-service counter for an on-the-spot refund (which is usually the quickest and easiest option),
- or mail it to the address on the form (or the envelope with it) after you arrive home (the processing time can be long, especially if you request a credit-card adjustment).
- Global Refund is a Europe-wide service with 225,000 affiliated stores and more than 700 refund counters at major airports and border crossings.
- Its refund form, called a Tax Free Check, is the most common across the European continent.
- The service issues refunds in the form of cash, check, or credit-card adjustment.
- Global Refund (800/566-9828. www.globalrefund.com).