This Monday the new Tax Free system was launched on the islands, which aims to return the IGIC to international tourists without having operators or companies involved.
The new Tax Free system is already operational in the Canary Islands; this measure aims to reimburse the IGIC percentage of purchases made by international tourists in the archipelago. The main novelty of this system is that the administration will be the one who fully coordinates the return operations.
The system, promoted by the Canary Islands Tax Agency, has been highly criticized by the Minister of Tourism of the Canary Islands, Yaiza Castilla and a multitude of merchants, since they consider that this new measure is doomed to failure by focusing the entire burden on the Tax Agency of the archipelago. and dispense with third-party companies.
The system promises the direct refund from the administration of said taxes within a maximum period of 6 months; thus replacing the DIVA system, which gave the tourist two options: immediate refund through an operator with a 27% commission or, like this new measure, wait for the Tax Agency to manage the complete refund within a maximum period of 6 months.
