[email protected] Posted May 3, 2018 Report Share Posted May 3, 2018 Confusion reigns here, at least with me. When ordering a drink on Symphony out of Barcelona, do I pay a 21% VAT tax in addition to the 18% tip? ex. $13 drink + 18% tip, + 21% Vat, =$18.07. The burning question is, Do I pay a 21% Vat on drinks??? Getting multiple stories on other webs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlennGlenn Posted May 3, 2018 Report Share Posted May 3, 2018 Do cruise ships even charge VAT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garnet21 Posted May 3, 2018 Report Share Posted May 3, 2018 2 hours ago, GlennGlenn said: Do cruise ships even charge VAT? Cruise ships charge VAT tax when in port and probably within a certain distance of a port that they stop in. I am not sure about the law when you are just "driving by". The VAT rate varies between countries and can vary for different services, ie there may be a lower rate for food than for watches. No business is allowed to eat sales tax. They are required to collect it by law. IF a business wants to give you a discount to negate that fee, that amount of money will come out of their revenues, not from the taxes that are collected. Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted May 3, 2018 Report Share Posted May 3, 2018 9 hours ago, GlennGlenn said: Do cruise ships even charge VAT? In Europe? You bet they do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accio7 Posted May 3, 2018 Report Share Posted May 3, 2018 Here's a good article explaining the VAT when cruising in the European Union, and, yes, alcohol is subject to the tax which can vary from country to country. In regards to drink packages specifically, it is recommended to purchase any drink, dining, specialty dining package prior to your cruise to avoid being charged a VAT. There are other recommendations included in the article which I hope will help you. Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[email protected] Posted May 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2018 This is what I found out, Re: Drink Pkg and Vat. Spain charges a 21% tax on all items sold on land or on board, with the exception of drinks, which is 10%. When you buy pre-cruise, you do not pay the VAT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traveler Posted May 3, 2018 Report Share Posted May 3, 2018 Yes no duty free in on the ship from Barcelona , Everything you buy you are paying the VAT of Spain even if you are in Italy. If you bought products on the ship which are more than 95 Euros you can get a form from the ship , stamp it when you are getting out from Europe (the last port which is in the Euro union) and get the VAT back (after commission) in the airport. Drinks as said here is 10% (and you can not get VAT back on drinks). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2mybugs Posted May 4, 2018 Report Share Posted May 4, 2018 So.... if I'm understanding correctly...a $12 drink would cost $12 +$3.36 (18%+10%)=$15.36? Is this only in port? Or through the entire Mediterranean/Greek isles trip for example? We are on a 12 day cruise which I was absolutely not going to pay for 12 days of drink pkg. However, if each drink costs an extra dollar it might be worth it. And am I right that if the drink card showed up, or i wanted to buy an extra specialty dinner on board that those would be taxed the extra 10% (or would the food be the 21%)? Yikes... hadn't considered any of this at all! Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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