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Why did the refund rates change in December 2025?

Jean-Marie Wodon avatar
Written by Jean-Marie Wodon
Updated over 3 weeks ago

Since December 3rd, 2025, Zapptax has been applying a new refund grid. This update allows us to maintain a sustainable, transparent, and consistently high-performing service for all travellers using our application.

More details about this change below:

1. Why was the refund grid updated?

Several factors made this adjustment necessary:

1.1. Rising operational costs

The costs associated with processing tax-free forms, providing multilingual support, administrative management, and meeting fiscal and customs compliance requirements have increased significantly.

To continue offering a reliable, secure service that complies with all legal obligations, updating our refund rates became necessary.

1.2. A simpler and more readable grid

This update also allowed us to simplify the structure of the grid to make it more intuitive:

  • removal of percentages with decimals

  • wider and more coherent purchase brackets

  • faster and clearer reading for travellers and support teams

The goal is to improve transparency around the refund rate and reduce any misunderstandings.

1.3. A policy that remains advantageous, especially for higher spending

While some tiers have been adjusted, the rates remain particularly favourable for larger purchase totals, with refunds of up to 90% of the VAT for the highest brackets.

Zapptax continues to offer a competitive, transparent, and fully digital refund solution.

2. A VAT-refund calculator for transparent estimates

To help travellers anticipate their refund, Zapptax provides a tax-refund calculator available at any time.

This tool allows users to:

  • obtain an estimated refund based on the total amount of purchases,

  • see which rate applies to each range,

  • understand transparently what they can expect to receive.

This helps avoid surprises and makes it easier to plan shopping before the trip.

3. No changes to the VAT-refund process

The update to the grid does not change:

  • how to create a tax-free form,

  • the customs validation steps,

  • refund timelines,

  • data protection,

  • or the overall functioning of the application.

Only the refund rate grid has been revised.

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