Travel Forum

how come when americans come to europe they are entitled to get tax refunds on all their purchases-which adds up, thats for sure yet when i went over to america for 3 months when i asked sales assistants about tax refunds they looked at me blankly!!!! Its driving me crazy thinking of all the tax money i have given them in 3 months!!!!

>>"Diver, I think the point's been made and rejected already."

Thanks for briinging me up to speed, DNW, but I didn't realize that paying one's fair share for services rendered wasn't, um, fair, and was an idea to be rejected. Frankly, I think many an economist would disagree.

"It's true that the tax situation is unfair, because you have to pay such a high tax and visitors can get off scot-free if they want to"

Youn seem to have changed your opinion from that one a few days ago diver-how strange! I think you are missing my whole point and have been from the very start. My whole point is, any one person should only have to pay tax in one country,as it is THEIR country and by being a "citizen" you mus tbe willing in my opinion to invest in your country. Such investment into and development of a country may have a positive side-effect of encouraging tourism, thereby increasing the economy any quality of life for inhabitants. In no way should a guest to another country have to pay tax to that country while he/she is a citizen and tax-payer of another country. Does the term 'guest" mean absolutely nothing to you diver?

I haven't changed my opinion at all. My point was that the European countries should not give the tax break to US citizens. It doesn't make economic sense, because it doesn't increase American tourism, which I'm assuming is what the reason for the break is.

If people only had to pay taxes to the country where they are citizens nobody would live in their native country.

I agree that people should have to pay taxes in the country they "live" in, be it their country of citizenship or not. I do not think people should have to pay additional taxes to any country they visit as a guest.....assuming they ARe paying tax in their home country. It all boils down to the fact that no-one should have to pay tax any country other than that in which they live-simple!

I know that when I go to a restaurant I am a "guest" and when I go to a hotel I am a "guest" but I still have to pay for the services I get there. I don't think that's unfair and I don't see the difference between those situations and when I am a "guest" in another country. I expect to pay my fair share for the wear & tear that I put on the system by paying the local taxes. That's all I'm saying. I guess we have to agree to disagree.

Agreeing to disagree would be just to easy! lol Course you pay for hotels and restaurants etc...thereby contributing to the economy (think of the possible mark-up on a meal in a nice restaurant!). And lets face it when youre on holiday you splash out-we get enough revenue from tourists without milking them for every penny to get them to pay for roads and water....my country has realised that,why cant yours?

>>"lets face it when youre on holiday you splash out"

Ha! Ha! You don't know me. I'm a penny-pinching American, at home and abroad. ;>)
No over-priced souvenirs, no fancy dinners, no luxury hotels. Just fun, friends, memories and pictures, thanks. Maybe a little bit of the local chocolate or cookies to take home, but that's about it.

But maybe you've got something of a point. I know of hotels in Europe where I can live for less than the rent that I pay at home now. If I just keep on moving around in Europe and go back home to visit Mom every once in a while, I won't have to pay taxes. Hmmm.... Now that's something to think about.

Well Gillian, in principle you're right, but how on earth would this be administered? The Federal government can't order the states what to do with their sales taxes, so every state, and even county, would be on it's own about how to go about this. Imagine that Massachusetts decided to refund the tax and New York didn't. Would Europeans then punish New York by deciding to go to MA instead? And what about the massive number of immigrants living here but holding foreign passports? I'd say that roughly one third of the people I serve daily speak with a foreign accent, and a good number of them are here illegally, so how do we I.D. everybody? (Since I've never pursued the refund in Europe myself, I wonder how this is handled.)
Point being, if we had a VAT to begin with, maybe our country WOULD figure it out, but as we've seen already, reciprocal arrangements with the EU really aren't the business of individual states.

I think if you visit another country, and you do not like it, then don't go there any more.. Then there's no contribution of taxes as a guest already. Simple.
Everyone has their own way of doing things. Just accept the system of the host country and do not try to change their system to adapt to yours. This is not wise. If people in every country tries to adapt to the tourists (from all over the world), it would be too complicated...

Well dnwitte if you knew the procedure you'd realise your argument is invald. Ti be eligible for a tax refund, you must fill in a document including you passport no. Also, tax refunds are only given on leving the coutnry, i.e at the airport so assuming an illegal immigrant is going to stay in the country then he/she wont be eligible for a tax refund.

Also to the other person, where did I ever say I didnt like America. It is my perogative to travel to whatever country I choose on holidays. All Im saying is that while I am a tourist in other countries it would be nice to be treated similarly to how my country and my people treat our tourists. I gues ill just have to admit that some countries are hospitable and some most certainly are not-sad but true.

There used to be a term for Americans who went abroad and expected everything to be the same in other countries as it was at home. They used to call them "ugly Americans". When I was a kid, I was told that Europeans didn't like American tourists because of ugly Americans. Have the tables now turned?

LIna is right. The system isn't going to change due to the reasons DNW and others have already explained and if you don't like the situation, you can vote with your feet. Sorry you're not happy about it and I hope you have otherwise enjoyed yourself here.

so im an 'ugly european'? thanks for that. You know and I know that argument is completely invalid. The 'ugly americans' are so-called because of their un-willingness to immerse themselves in the CULTUREof the country they are visiting. eg. many dont even convert their money to the correct currency and expect people in host countries to bend-over backwards to convert prices to dollars and accept them. In ireland we speak the same language but i know americans are the bain of many continental europeans lives because they make no effort whatsoever to try and speak the language of that country. So narcissistic are the american people that they can not even detach themselves from american ways of lives for even a week long holiday. And I would resent if you put my situation along side that one. Paying taxes have absolutely nothing to do with adpting to culture. I have adapted in so many ways to the american way of life-my vocabulary had to change, I had to change from metric to imperial, food is completely different, -culture shock on many levels-but i enjoy that part of travel-its why people travel after all. Please dont put paying taxes under the heading of culture adaption. I have enjoyed my time in america thank you.

Actually, Gillian my pet, I wasn't arguing but posing a question.
But may I, for once, agree with Keti? I think we've all said what we have to say, and there's no point in spreading more ill will than has already been spread. I will continue to go to Europe often and continue not to bother about the tax.
(God, I dealt with a totally obnoxious European couple in my shop today! How do people like that get through life without being clubbed to death?)

Sorry, I have just one more thing to say, because the comment below has been bothering me, then I'm done with this thread.

>>"I gues ill just have to admit that some countries are hospitable and some most certainly are not-sad but true."<<

Are you kidding me? You actually had some sympathy from me, but this is just the sort of unexamined nagging I was talking about earlier. This country, for all its deplorable flaws and errors, still takes in millions of people who can't make a go of it at home. A couple of generations ago it was your people Gillian, and they're still the major force in the corrupt political machine that drives my area. The current crop of newcomers are people who in large numbers don't speak English and don't try to--I deal with them daily in my shop-- and whose norms and values are in direct conflict with those of the country they choose they live in, and who collect public benefits not available to locals. All of my friends who have lived in Europe have learned the local language, but in my area the first language at my bank, supermarket and post office is not English.
I implore you not to confuse hospitality with conformity to European systems.

America is the single most hardest country to get into. So I dont know how you can make it out to be the most welcoming all-embracing country. Getting a green card is like winning the lottery. I had to fight tooth and nail to get a three month visa. I was GRILLED about 20times from embassies etc about my business in america (im an exchange student for 3 months). We all have problms with immigrants-if youve ever been in dublin you would see that honestly most of the people n the northside are asian. Hey, this whole argument is another story altogether. We'll never agree on that tax situation, so I suppose we should leave it. Im not normally a confrontational person believe it or not!!!! =)