The VAT tax in Israel is 17%, as a tourist, you do get a tax refund from VAT tax at the airport or border. The rule has changed since early 2019! The expense minimum has lowered!
You get roughly 14.5% back! Not too bad! But not all stores participate in giving tax refund, especially small souvenir shops… so make sure you ask the shopkeepers first!
Tax Refund Conditions
There are 4 requirements
- Not food, alcohol and cigarets
- From stores that participate with tax refund (there’s a special form/receipt) Your single bill exceeds
₪400 ($roughly $120)only ₪120 now - You intend to use the product abroad
The souvenir shops in Jerusalem claim the prices they offer are already “tax-free”, in that scenario I would say… BARGAIN HARDER!
VAT Refund Method
There’s a VAT Refund counter before check-in. You are supposed to show your purchase and present the VAT tax return form.
But in Terminal 1, I saw VAT refund counter after check-in…
Tax Refund Service Charges
Updated in 2019.Feb
There’s a fixed 17.66NIS service fee per bill. You can get 17% back when you purchase for more than 125NIS. So here’s the calculation:
You get 17% from 125NIS, which is 21.5NIS.
And you must pay 17.66NIS service fee. And you’ll be left with 3.84NIS (around $1) after the hard work…. haha!
Service Charges
Over 400NIS (roughly $120), you receive 14.5% VAT tax refund.From the amount you receive, for example, 58 shekels from your 400 shekels purchase, you have to pay a service fee. It ranges from 15% being the highest rate, and 4.8% being the lowest. *see the picture below- If you want cash on the spot, there’s a 2% extra service charge. If you want bank transfer, then there’s an additional 30.9NIS charge… so receiving return through credit card is the cheapest option.
That’s it!
