Do you know this!

[moki'smommy]

Doesn't this depend on the country, different countries have different VAT rates, and whether or not the cruise includes a port which is outside the EU?

Don't think any ship charges 18% extra on purchases in the shops do they as well as VAT if its applicable?

 

Belgiu-

 

We did a Med B2B on another line. During the first leg, we were advised that in the second leg they would be obligated to charge 20% VAT on all goods and services as the cruise began and ended in Barcelona and did not visit a non-EU port. They would (and did) supply documentation to reclaim a portion of that tax at the airport.

 

The charge on a drink was drink cost + 15% automatic gratuity +20% VAT. Same for spa and other services except there the automatic grat is 18% on that line.

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

While on Emerald we were advised that local sales tax was in force, at certain ports,

 

at IC, they advised sale would be put through later.

 

 

yours Shogun

[Griller]

Canadian Visitor Tax Refund

 

Canadian Foreign Convention and Tour Incentive Program (FCTIP)

 

After you visit our beautiful country, don’t forget to get some of your money back! As an international tourist or non-resident, you may be eligible for a tax refund on the GST/HST you paid on short-term accommodations and/or camping accommodations included in an eligible tour package.

You must spend a minimum of $200 Canadian before taxes on a tour package to be eligible for a tax refund (the cost cannot include property and services included in the tour package that are not subject to tax, such as overseas transportation services).

•Non-residents or visitors who wish to claim a refund of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and/or the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) cannot receive a refund on goods they exported from Canada.

•A refund cannot be claimed without a valid receipt or invoice with the amount of GST/HST paid on the tour package.

•You have one year from when the tax was paid (or when the invoice was due, whichever comes first) to file your claim.

•You may not claim any purchases made in Duty Free shops.

•If you are a foreigner who is currently residing at a Canadian address, you may not claim any tax refunds.

•You must be a non-resident of Canada when the rebate is filed.

•You did not purchase the eligible tour package for any resale business purposes.

•You must provide the rebate application along with a detailed description for the eligible tour package(s), including the number of nights of accommodation in Canada.

•Of the GST/HST paid, 50% of the taxes can be claimed.

 

Copy the following address: Summerside Tax Centre,

275 Pope Road, Summerside PE, C1N 6A2, CANADA. While travelling, keep all eligible receipts and upon your return home, send your receipts and completed application signed and dated.

 

For more information: please visit the Foreign Convention and Tour Incentive Program (FCTIP) website.

To download the application form: please visit the Canada Revenue Agency website.

[rubytue]

Do the servers let you know once they are far enough away to avoid the tax?

 

Can't answer for the servers on princess, but on other cruises I've used the casino opening as my "tax free" clue. The casino can't open until the ship is in international waters - and they generally make an announcement about that.

[RocketMan275]

Hi, I don't really understand the last part of your post, are you saying that if I live in a state with 7% sales tax then if I pre-purchase a drink package I'll be charged my state sales tax?

 

It varies by state but you usually have to take delivery in your state for the transaction to be taxable. For example, an order from Amazon delivered to your home address. You are not normally, depends upon the state, for purchases made outside the state and used/consumed outside the state, ie, you don't have to pay taxes on things you buy on a trip outside the state unless you bring them back into the state.

 

I use turbotax for my state and federal taxes. There is a question asking you to identify purchases made outside the state which you did not pay state sales taxes.

[Renmar]

Do the servers let you know once they are far enough away to avoid the tax?

 

Nobody mentioned it. I think it is one of those things what they call "Buyer beware".

It would be nice though if they would mention it in the Patter.

 

Theo

[elliair]

I never knew this and I wonder how many people are aware of it.

We are momentarily on board the Star Princess, docked in San Pedro until 11:00PM

Tonight in the dining room we ordered a bottle of wine and of course had it added to our account. Just a minute ago I checked our account and to my surprise we were not only charged for the bottle of wine & the 15% gratuity (service charge) but also 9% for the Los Angeles sales tax. checking a bit further we were also charged 9% LA tax on the purchase at the Suite/Elite/Platinum happy hour at Skywalkers. Not a heck of a lot and it won't break the bank but for some people it might be more than they budgeted for.

I wonder if the same tax will apply when we visit Catalina Island, Santa Barbara & San Francisco?

Nobody ever mentioned or pointed out this charge.

 

Theo

 

Yep, that's why we never order drinks when we're in ports like LA or San Francisco. BTW, if you dine out in San Francisco, look at the end of your bill and an additional charge is added to pay for the waiter's health care. We always deduct that from their tip. We circle the medical tax and put a frown by the side of it.

[elliair]

Nobody mentioned it. I think it is one of those things what they call "Buyer beware".

It would be nice though if they would mention it in the Patter.

 

Theo

 

Princess won't mention it because they want to sell the booze. They won't cut their own throat to save you 9% tax.

[mmckm]

I'm not going to sit on board and not have a drink because of a state sales tax. Boarding around noon and wait till 5 pm because of maybe 80 cents more a drink. I think there's a lot of people who don't realize these taxes exist. I spoke with one couple and they had noticed on there bill the tax and were blaming Princess saying that they had no business adding a tax.

[Sea Hag]

Yes, I knew that. It's business as usual.

[Cruise Raider]

I knew there was a tax added while in the embarkation port but never realized that this applied while in other ports of call or when you purchased the beverage package while in port. That is very useful information. While some say a dollar wouldn't make a difference, $100 more sure would encourage me to purchase ahead of time. This is really interesting ... thanks for bringing up this topic.

[Griller]

Yep, that's why we never order drinks when we're in ports like LA or San Francisco. BTW, if you dine out in San Francisco, look at the end of your bill and an additional charge is added to pay for the waiter's health care. We always deduct that from their tip. We circle the medical tax and put a frown by the side of it.

 

Surefire way to get a sneezemuffin on your next visit! Let's hope the waiter isn't really sick with something contagious from lack of medical treatment due to customers deducting health care........................

[partybarbie]

Let me clear up the misinformation on this thread. We are just off the Emerald TA out of Barcelona and the VAT tax on a drink is 10%. On my $5.00 drink, this was 50 cents. There's no VAT on the gratuity of 75 cents. This information is on my passenger folio.

 

I bought a coffee card and DH bought an AIBP. Princess wrote it up on a paper tag and the charges were put through after we sailed from Barcelona, so no VAT on those purchases. Also, when in port, if ones uses their AIBP or coffee card, there's no VAT charged.

 

The Princess gift shops were closed when we are in port, so we never paid VAT on any of those purchases either.

 

Yes, you will pay sales tax in some US ports, but not on anything that you purchase with the AIBP sticker.

[sanchari]

Have read through a few threads on the AIBP/UKP(Unlimited soda +) package and till now i haven't seen a clear answer on taxes.

 

If we both buy a 10 day UKP(Unlimited soda +) package it is $160 & the tax on that varies from $10-15 depending on the jurisdiction. ( if the tax applies when we pre-purchase online via personalizer)

The last time we bought it onboard they put the charge in a few hours late ( as others have said & thus no taxes )

 

Not a big amount but the obsession to find the tiniest of edges leads to posts like this ( telling myself to let it go & enjoy the vacation )

 

Does anyone know from experience know whether taxes are charged when drink packages are pre-purchased online ?

 

Live in a state with sales tax & FLL ( port of embarkation ) charges tax according to posts above

[partybarbie]

Have read through a few threads on the AIBP/UKP(Unlimited soda +) package and till now i haven't seen a clear answer on taxes.

 

If we both buy a 10 day UKP(Unlimited soda +) package it is $160 & the tax on that varies from $10-15 depending on the jurisdiction. ( if the tax applies when we pre-purchase online via personalizer)

The last time we bought it onboard they put the charge in a few hours late ( as others have said & thus no taxes )

 

Not a big amount but the obsession to find the tiniest of edges leads to posts like this ( telling myself to let it go & enjoy the vacation )

 

Does anyone know from experience know whether taxes are charged when drink packages are pre-purchased online ?

 

Live in a state with sales tax & FLL ( port of embarkation ) charges tax according to posts above

 

I don't know the answer to your question as we never pre-purchase anything from Princess. We prefer to use our on-board credit. On our last cruise, this was $1,500.00. If for some reason you had to cancel your cruise, then anything you pre-paid is just another thing to try and get reimbursed for. There's really no good reason to pre-purchase anything.

[shredie]

Surefire way to get a sneezemuffin on your next visit! Let's hope the waiter isn't really sick with something contagious from lack of medical treatment due to customers deducting health care........................

 

Yep. Wouldn't want those workers to be healthy. :rolleyes: I have heard enough stories from servers over the years about how they do "payback" to these types... Does it make you feel better to punish the workers for something they have no control over? I think possibly the solution for you is to stay out of San Francisco. Permanently.

Edited November 2, 2015 by shredie

[cruise sojourner]

I wonder if the same tax will apply when we visit Catalina Island, Santa Barbara & San Francisco?

Nobody ever mentioned or pointed out this charge.

 

Theo

Last month on the California Coastal cruise I had the same 2 glasses of wine at happy hour (buy 1 get 1 for a dollar). In LA the tax was .72, in Santa Barbara it was .17 and San Francisco it was .70

[caribill]

Does anyone know from experience know whether taxes are charged when drink packages are pre-purchased online ?

 

 

No taxes on any pre-cruise purchases.

[CI66774]

Yep. Wouldn't want those workers to be healthy. :rolleyes: I have heard enough stories from servers over the years about how they do "payback" to these types... Does it make you feel better to punish the workers for something they have no control over? I think possibly the solution for you is to stay out of San Francisco. Permanently.

 

Shredie - that was really rude of you. No need to be so snarky. I'm not the one who posted about the worker and healthcare but let's try to maintain some civility. Suggesting someone stay out a state permanently. Really - beyond the pale.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...Just a minute ago I checked our account and to my surprise we were not only charged for the bottle of wine & the 15% gratuity (service charge) but also 9% for the Los Angeles sales tax...I wonder if the same tax will apply when we visit Catalina Island, Santa Barbara & San Francisco?...

 

When you are in or close to port, yes. Last I knew, sales tax on Catalina is 9.5%, SF 8.75% and Santa Barbara "only" 8.00% ;).

[shredie]

Shredie - that was really rude of you. No need to be so snarky. I'm not the one who posted about the worker and healthcare but let's try to maintain some civility. Suggesting someone stay out a state permanently. Really - beyond the pale.

 

San Francisco is not a state. It is a city in the State of California. Thanks for the sermon.

[iceleven]

San Francisco is not a state. It is a city in the State of California. Thanks for the sermon.

 

The added health care tip is not only collected in San Francisco. It happens in L.A. as well. Even a restaurant chain in Florida gave it a try just to be spiteful against the ACA. BTW, not all restaurants in SF add this to their tabs.

Edited November 2, 2015 by iceleven

[Renmar]

To all of you that posted that it is not a big deal, I agree (we have enough OBC to cover it and then some). What I said in my tread starter is that I did not know this and wondered who knew. No need for smart or snarky comments.

 

Theo

[azgrandmax3]

To all of you that posted that it is not a big deal, I agree (we have enough OBC to cover it and then some). What I said in my tread starter is that I did not know this and wondered who knew. No need for smart or snarky comments.

 

Theo

I would like to better understand. After reading the above thread are you all speaking of packages that include alcohol? The packages for soda and more (mocktails) is there tax added when in port of FLL? Thanks

[TravelingEA]

It varies by state but you usually have to take delivery in your state for the transaction to be taxable. For example, an order from Amazon delivered to your home address. You are not normally, depends upon the state, for purchases made outside the state and used/consumed outside the state, ie, you don't have to pay taxes on things you buy on a trip outside the state unless you bring them back into the state.

 

I use turbotax for my state and federal taxes. There is a question asking you to identify purchases made outside the state which you did not pay state sales taxes.

 

What you seem to be saying, is that if I am traveling outside my home state of WI, I don't have to pay sales tax on items I purchase on my travels outside of WI? If I go to IL, the sales tax rate is higher than what it is in WI. I don't think a retailer would go along with not charging me IL sales tax on something I purchase in IL. What you are saying may be true for items you order on the internet and have shipped to your home address, however, if I have a drink in CA while the ship is in port, I would expect to pay sales tax on the purchase since the ship has a physical presence in CA.