Tax break as tourist numbers rise in Fiji

Posted: Wed 3 Mar, 2010 12:00 AM

Tourists spending more than FJ$500 in Fiji may now claim Value Added Tax (VAT) refunds upon their departure, reports PATA member Tourism Fiji. The Tourist VAT Refund Scheme (TVRS) allows for refunds to be collected at Nadi airport and Suva Wharf. Conversion to foreign currency is an individual option but the nominated currency must be on the ANZ standard currencies listing. To be eligible for a VAT refund a tourist must not be a Fiji citizen, holder of a Fiji passport, employed in Fiji over the previous six months or a cabin or flight crew member. Refunds apply to tourists 13 years and over.

To qualify for the refund a tourist must:

Spend FJ$500 (VAT inclusive) or more in any of the registered VAT refund outlets on the same day; take the goods out of Fiji within two months of the date of purchase; present the goods for inspection along with the Refunds Form, original tax invoice, passport and international boarding pass to a Customs Officer at the Tourist VAT Refund Inspection Counter.

Fiji has kicked off 2010 with a 37.6 per cent jump in international visitor arrivals – the best figures the destination has recorded for the start to a new year’s business since 2008. Figures released this week by Tourism Fiji for January 2010 show the destination attracted a total of 45,362 international visitors in January, a more than 9000 increase over the 32,955 recorded for the same period in 2009.  The result is a huge cry from the massive drop the destination experienced in January 2009 following heavy flooding, the natural disaster seen as a catalyst for a massive  drop in business.

Tourism Fiji CEO Josefa Tuamoto said while local industry sales figures and feedback from the national tourist office’s overseas based offices indicated Fiji’s business was booming, the January 2010 result was far and away much higher than he had anticipated.