These Terms of Service explain the rules that apply when you use VatCake. Please read them carefully before creating an account or submitting a VAT refund claim.
Last updated: July 2026
VatCake helps eligible travellers prepare, submit and track VAT refund claims for purchases made with participating retailers in supported countries or territories.
You must be eligible under the relevant VAT refund rules, provide accurate information and follow the instructions shown in the app.
VAT refunds depend on retailer participation, claim eligibility, Customs or authority validation and other checks. We cannot guarantee that every claim will be approved.
If your claim is successful, we deduct a fixed EUR 4 service charge to help cover third-party and operational costs we incur in providing the service to you.
After the EUR 4 service charge, aggregate commission deducted by Tax Back Europe, the relevant Tax Back Europe entity and/or the participating retailer will not exceed 30% of the remaining VAT amount.
Retailers remain responsible for the goods they sell, including returns, faults and product complaints, unless a country-specific arrangement says otherwise. Where Tax Back Europe is the seller in a country-specific arrangement, your mandatory consumer rights are preserved.
You can request account deletion in the app or through our Account Deletion page. Some claim records may need to be retained for legal, tax, Customs, audit, fraud-prevention or security reasons.
VatCake is operated by Retail Export Scheme Partners Limited, an Irish company registered under company number 730220 and trading as Tax Back Europe. VatCake is the app and service brand used for the traveller-facing VAT refund app.
Our registered office is The Cube Building, Monahan Road, Cork, T12 H1XY, Ireland.
In these Terms, "VatCake", "we", "us" and "our" mean Retail Export Scheme Partners Limited and, where relevant for a country-specific claim, the Tax Back Europe entity responsible for providing, supporting or processing the VAT refund service in the country where the relevant purchase was made.
You can contact us about the service at support@taxbackeurope.com.
For privacy questions, data protection requests or account deletion queries, contact privacy@taxbackeurope.com.
If we need to contact you, we may do so through the app, by email, by SMS, by telephone, or using any contact details linked to your VatCake account.
These Terms apply when you access or use VatCake, including the VatCake mobile app and related services.
By creating an account, signing in, accepting these Terms or submitting a VAT refund claim, you agree to these Terms.
Additional country-specific or claim-specific instructions may apply. Where the app gives country-specific instructions for a supported country, departure point, retailer, claim type or refund process, you must follow those instructions.
If you do not agree to these Terms, you should not create an account or use the service.
VatCake provides a digital VAT refund service for eligible travellers. The service may allow you to create an account, verify your identity, upload receipts, prepare VAT refund claims, receive or access VAT refund forms, track claim status and receive a refund after the required validation has been completed.
VatCake is not a Customs authority, tax authority, bank, card issuer, airline, airport, retailer or product manufacturer. We do not decide the VAT refund rules and we do not control Customs or tax authority decisions.
Unless we expressly tell you otherwise for a specific claim or country, the sale of goods remains between you and the retailer. The retailer remains responsible for the goods it sells, including quality, returns and statutory consumer obligations.
Tax Back Europe may operate differently depending on the country, retailer and claim process. In some cases, we may act as an intermediary, agent, claim facilitator, refund provider or service provider. In other cases, including Ireland where applicable, Tax Back Europe may act as principal. These Terms include general provisions for those different arrangements, and any country-specific arrangement will apply only where it is relevant to the claim.
VatCake is the app used to access the service. However, VAT refund activity may be provided, processed, funded, administered or supported by the Tax Back Europe entity relevant to the country where the purchase was made.
Where there is a country-specific arrangement, including the Ireland-specific arrangement described in Schedule 1, that arrangement applies only to claims or purchases for which it is expressly made available or required.
To use VatCake, you must be at least 18 years old.
You must be an eligible traveller under the VAT refund rules that apply in the supported country where the relevant purchase is made.
Depending on the country and claim process, eligibility rules may require that you:
• are not resident in the European Union, Northern Ireland or another territory excluded by the applicable rules;
• are visiting the relevant country or territory on a temporary basis and not for more than the period permitted by the applicable VAT refund rules;
• are departing to a destination outside the relevant VAT or Customs territory;
• are not a student, intern or other person treated as resident or non-eligible under the applicable rules;
• are buying goods for personal use only, and not for business, resale or commercial purposes;
• meet any minimum purchase amount, retailer, goods, documentation, departure point or timing requirement that applies in the relevant country; and
• provide refund payment details using a supported refund method.
Other country-specific eligibility rules may apply. Eligibility rules, minimum purchase amounts, supported retailers, supported countries, supported departure points and supported refund methods may vary and may change. The app or website will show the requirements that apply to the claim where reasonably possible.
You must be able to provide the information and documents required by Tax Back Europe, the relevant Customs or tax authorities, and any applicable law.
You must export the goods within the time limit and in the manner required by the applicable VAT refund rules.
You need a VatCake account to use the service. You may be able to create or access your account using email and password, Google Sign-In, Sign in with Apple, SMS verification or other sign-in methods supported by the app.
You must provide accurate and current account information. You are responsible for keeping your sign-in credentials, devices and verification codes secure.
You may only create one VatCake account for your own personal use. You must not create accounts for other people, allow someone else to use your account, or attempt to bypass identity, eligibility or fraud-prevention checks.
If you believe your account has been accessed without permission, you should contact support@taxbackeurope.com immediately.
If you sign in with Google or Apple, the relevant provider may also apply its own terms and privacy rules. Your use of those sign-in services is between you and the relevant provider.
VAT refund services require identity and eligibility checks. We may ask you to provide information such as your name, email address, phone number, passport details, country of residence, residential address, travel or export details and other information needed to assess or process your claim.
We may ask you to provide a passport image and a real-time selfie or facial verification step through a specialist identity verification provider. This helps confirm that the person using the account matches the identity document provided.
We may verify your phone number by SMS and may verify your account or deletion requests by email, SMS, password, Google, Apple or other supported authentication method.
We may ask you to complete address verification. This may involve entering payment card details and address details with a payment service provider. VatCake does not receive or store the full payment card details used for this address verification check.
If you do not complete the required checks, or if we cannot verify your identity, address, eligibility or claim information, we may be unable to provide the service or process a claim.
To submit a claim, you may need to upload a clear image of your purchase receipt or invoice and provide any other information requested by the app.
The receipt or invoice must be genuine, complete, legible and relate to goods that may be eligible for a VAT refund under the applicable rules.
Unless the app or country-specific instructions state otherwise, purchases made wholly using gift cards, loyalty points, vouchers, store credit or similar non-cash benefits are not eligible for submission through VatCake. Where only part of a purchase was paid using those methods, we may accept only the part of the purchase paid by an eligible payment method, such as payment card, electronic payment method linked to an account, bank payment or cash, depending on the relevant country rules and information shown in the app.
You must not submit a receipt or purchase if you have already claimed or requested a VAT refund for the same purchase through another provider, in-store process, retailer process or Customs process.
We may use technology providers to extract information from receipts and help prepare claim details. You remain responsible for checking that the information you provide or confirm is accurate.
We use fraud-prevention controls to identify duplicate, false, altered, suspicious or ineligible claims. You acknowledge that false declarations to Customs, tax authorities or other authorities may result in penalties. Submitting false information or fraudulent claims may lead to account suspension, cancellation of claims, recovery of refunds already paid, reporting to retailers, Customs, tax authorities or law enforcement, and possible civil or criminal consequences.
We may accept, reject, pause, request more information about or cancel a claim if it appears incomplete, inaccurate, duplicate, ineligible, suspicious, fraudulent, outside the relevant time limit, unsupported by the relevant retailer, or otherwise unsuitable for submission.
Where a claim is accepted for processing, VatCake may generate, provide, transmit, display, email or otherwise make available a VAT refund form, export voucher, electronic document, QR code, barcode or other claim document required for the relevant process.
You must follow the instructions shown in the app or on the relevant form. In some cases, you may need to present the form and goods to Customs or complete a digital validation process before leaving the relevant country or territory.
A generated form does not guarantee that a refund will be paid. Refund payment depends on successful validation and completion of the applicable claim process.
You are responsible for exporting the goods within the required time limit and keeping any evidence required by the applicable rules.
If a Customs, tax authority, electronic validation, app, network or messaging system is unavailable or interrupted, we may put alternative or fallback procedures in place. These may include issuing replacement or additional instructions, using paper forms, requiring manual stamps, requiring you to present documents or goods to Customs, or asking you to send original or copied documents to us or to the relevant authority. Refunds may be delayed or refused if a required fallback process is not completed within the relevant deadline.
Where a claim is successfully validated and a VAT refund is authorised, we will process the refund using a supported refund method selected or provided by you, less the fixed service charge, commission and any applicable payment or currency charges that have been disclosed to you.
If your VAT refund claim is successful, we will deduct a fixed EUR 4 service charge from the VAT refund amount. This charge helps cover costs we incur in providing the service to you, including third-party technology, identity verification, payment, document-processing, communications, administration and compliance costs.
After deducting the fixed EUR 4 service charge, Tax Back Europe, the relevant Tax Back Europe entity and/or the participating retailer may deduct a commission from the remaining VAT amount. The aggregate commission will not exceed 30% of the remaining VAT amount.
Before any separate payment or currency conversion charges, your refund will be calculated broadly as follows: gross VAT refund amount minus the EUR 4 fixed service charge minus commission of up to 30% of the remaining VAT amount equals the net refund before any separate payment or currency conversion charges.
Fees, commissions and deductions may vary depending on the country where the purchase is made, the participating retailer, the claim type, the refund method and the applicable VAT refund process. We will show the applicable fee, commission or calculation method in the app or claim flow where reasonably possible. The refund confirmation email will show the gross VAT amount, applicable deductions and the net refund paid to you. The Export Voucher or claim summary may also show this information where the format allows.
We only provide refunds through the payment methods offered in the app or otherwise confirmed by VatCake. We do not provide cash refunds.
You must provide accurate refund payment details. If the details are incomplete, inaccurate or no longer valid, the refund may be delayed, fail or require further information from you.
Where a currency conversion is required, the amount you receive may be affected by exchange rates, banking charges, payment provider charges or foreign exchange fees. We will disclose those charges where they are known to us or reasonably capable of being calculated.
We may withhold, delay, reverse or refuse a refund where required by law, where the claim is rejected or withdrawn, where payment details cannot be verified, where we reasonably suspect fraud or misuse, or where a third-party payment provider, bank, Customs authority, tax authority or other relevant party prevents payment.
We aim to process refunds within 5 business days after Customs approval where all required information is complete and no additional checks are needed. In all cases, refund timing remains subject to the legal timeframe and operational requirements of the relevant country, payment provider processing, banking systems, sanctions screening, fraud checks and other factors outside our control.
Where you choose or need to receive your refund in a currency other than euro, the amount you receive may be affected by the exchange rate used and any payment-provider, banking or foreign exchange charges. We will disclose the exchange rate, charge or calculation method where it is known to us or reasonably capable of being calculated.
Unless we expressly tell you otherwise for a specific claim or country, your contract for the purchase of goods is with the retailer that sold the goods to you. Product returns, exchanges, defects, warranties, complaints and consumer rights relating to goods should normally be raised with the retailer.
Where a country-specific arrangement means that Tax Back Europe is the seller or principal for a particular transaction, that arrangement will be governed by these Terms and any applicable country-specific process. For Ireland, see Schedule 1.
Nothing in these Terms removes or reduces any mandatory consumer rights that you have under applicable law. Where our retailer arrangements are relevant, they are intended to preserve the tourist's ability to pursue ordinary return, exchange, refund, faulty-goods or other consumer-rights processes with the retailer or through Tax Back Europe as applicable.
If you return goods, cancel a purchase, receive a refund from the retailer, exchange goods or otherwise change the purchase after submitting a VAT refund claim, you must tell VatCake promptly.
You must not keep a VAT refund for goods that are returned, not exported, cancelled, refunded, exchanged in a way that affects eligibility, or otherwise not eligible under the applicable rules.
If a return, cancellation or other change means a VAT refund should not have been paid, we may cancel the claim, adjust the refund, recover amounts from you or take other steps reasonably required to comply with the applicable rules.
You agree to use VatCake only for lawful, personal VAT refund purposes and in accordance with these Terms and the instructions shown in the app.
You must provide truthful, accurate, current and complete information. You must not upload forged, altered, misleading or fraudulent documents.
You must not submit claims for goods you did not buy, goods bought for someone else unless expressly permitted, goods bought for business or resale, goods that will not be exported as required, or goods that are not eligible under the applicable rules.
You must comply with the rules, processes and deadlines of the relevant Customs authority, tax authority, retailer, departure point and refund process. You are responsible for following the required steps to obtain validation, including presenting forms, goods and identity or travel documents where required.
You must not interfere with the app, attempt to access other users' accounts, reverse engineer the service, misuse the service, or attempt to bypass security, eligibility, identity, fraud-prevention or claim controls.
You are responsible for any costs charged by your mobile network, device provider, bank or payment provider when using the service.
We may suspend, restrict or close your account, pause claims or refuse service where we reasonably believe that you have breached these Terms, provided inaccurate information, created duplicate accounts, submitted suspicious or fraudulent claims, misused the service, or where required for legal, security, operational, regulatory or fraud-prevention reasons.
You can request closure or deletion of your account through the app by going to Settings > Account > Delete Account, or through the public account deletion page at /trust/account-deletion.
When we receive a verified deletion request, we will close or restrict access to your account and delete or anonymise personal information that is no longer needed.
Because VatCake processes VAT refund claims, some records may need to be retained for legal, tax, Customs, audit, fraud-prevention, security or dispute-resolution reasons. Retained records will be kept only for as long as required and will be access-restricted where appropriate.
A deletion request may prevent us from continuing to process open claims, paying refunds, providing support or responding to claim queries, except where we must continue processing for legal or regulatory reasons.
We may close or delete dormant accounts where there has been no activity on the account for more than 18 consecutive months, subject to any legal, tax, Customs, audit, fraud-prevention, security, dispute-resolution or data-protection retention requirements. Where appropriate, we may notify you before closing or deleting a dormant account.
We aim to make the app and service available, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted availability. The service may be unavailable or limited because of maintenance, updates, security incidents, third-party providers, network issues, app store issues, Customs systems, retailer systems or other events outside our control.
You may need to install updates to continue using the service. Some features may not work on older app versions, devices or operating systems.
Where you download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play, the relevant app store terms may also apply. The app stores are not responsible for providing the VatCake VAT refund service or support for claims.
We take privacy seriously. Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share and protect personal information when you use VatCake.
You should read our Privacy Policy before creating an account or submitting a claim. It is available at /trust/privacy.
We may share information with participating retailers, Customs authorities, tax authorities, identity verification providers, address verification providers, payment providers, hosting providers, support providers and other trusted providers where necessary to provide the service, prevent fraud, comply with legal obligations or protect our rights.
We do not sell your personal information.
VatCake relies on third-party services such as app stores, identity verification providers, address verification providers, receipt extraction tools, hosting providers, email or SMS providers, payment providers, retailers, banks, Customs systems and tax authority systems.
We are not responsible for delays, failures, outages, decisions, charges, errors or actions caused by third parties outside our reasonable control, although we will take reasonable steps to help resolve issues where appropriate.
We do not sell your personal information.
We will provide the service with reasonable care and skill.
We are responsible for foreseeable loss or damage caused by our breach of these Terms or our failure to use reasonable care and skill, subject to the limits set out in these Terms and applicable law.
We are not responsible for loss or damage that is not foreseeable, for business losses, or for loss caused by your failure to follow the rules, provide accurate information, export goods correctly, complete validation steps or keep your account secure.
We do not guarantee that a VAT refund claim will be approved, validated or paid. Claims may be rejected or delayed for reasons outside our control, including retailer, Customs, tax authority, payment provider, banking, sanctions-screening, fraud-prevention or technical reasons.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability, right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under applicable law, including any mandatory consumer rights you may have.
We may update these Terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes to the service, supported countries, VAT refund rules, app features, legal requirements, providers, Tax Back Europe entities, payment methods or security practices.
The updated version will be published on our website and may also be made available in the app. Where appropriate, we may notify you by email, in-app message or other reasonable method.
If you continue to use the service after the updated Terms take effect, you will be treated as accepting the updated Terms.
If you have a question or problem with the service, contact support@taxbackeurope.com.
If your question relates to privacy or data protection, contact privacy@taxbackeurope.com.
If your question relates to goods, returns, exchanges, defects or product quality, you should usually contact the retailer that sold you the goods, unless a country-specific arrangement tells you that Tax Back Europe is the seller or principal for that transaction.
If your question relates to a Customs decision or legal eligibility requirement, we may explain the status shown to us, but we cannot override decisions of Customs or tax authorities.
We may transfer our rights and obligations under these Terms to another organisation, including another Tax Back Europe entity or successor. We will tell you if a transfer materially affects your rights.
You may only transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms to another person if we agree in writing.
These Terms are between you and us. No other person has any right to enforce them, except where applicable law requires otherwise or where a Tax Back Europe entity is involved in the relevant country-specific claim process.
Each part of these Terms operates separately. If a court or relevant authority decides that any part is unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining parts will remain in full force and effect.
If we do not immediately insist that you do something required by these Terms, or if we delay taking steps against you for breaching these Terms, this does not mean that you do not have to do those things or that we cannot take steps later.
We intend to rely on these written Terms and any document expressly referred to in them in relation to the subject matter of any contract between us. You and we will be legally bound by these Terms.
These Terms may be made available in more than one language. If there is any inconsistency between versions, the English language version will prevail unless applicable law requires otherwise.
These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them are governed by the laws of Ireland.
You and we agree that the courts of Ireland will have non-exclusive jurisdiction, which means that you may also have rights to bring proceedings in another country where applicable consumer law gives you that right.
Where a claim is processed by a country-specific Tax Back Europe entity, mandatory local law, tax law, Customs law, consumer protection law or dispute-resolution rules may also apply to that country-specific refund activity.
"Account" means your VatCake user account.
"App" means the VatCake mobile application.
"Customs" means the Customs authority, tax authority, Revenue authority or other government authority involved in validating or supervising VAT refund claims in the relevant country or territory.
"Eligible Purchase" means a purchase that meets the applicable VAT refund rules, these Terms, the retailer requirements and any country-specific instructions shown in the app.
"Export Voucher" means a paper, digital or electronic export voucher, VAT refund form, claim document, barcode, QR code or equivalent document generated, transmitted or displayed as part of the claim process.
"Goods" means tangible goods that may be eligible for a VAT refund under the relevant rules.
"Participating retailer" means a retailer that supports or participates in the VatCake service for the relevant claim or purchase.
"Receipt" means a purchase receipt, invoice or other document accepted by VatCake as evidence of a purchase.
"Service" means the VatCake app and related account, VAT refund claim, refund payment, support, Trust Centre and app-linked services.
"Supported country" or "supported territory" means a country or territory for which VatCake or a Tax Back Europe entity offers the relevant service at the relevant time.
"Tax Back Europe entity" means Retail Export Scheme Partners Limited or another Tax Back Europe company, affiliate or operating entity that provides, processes, supports, funds or administers VAT refund services for a particular country, retailer, claim type or refund workflow.
"You" means the individual using VatCake.
This Schedule applies to eligible VAT refund claims made in Ireland.
For an eligible Irish claim to which this Schedule applies, you may purchase the goods from the participating retailer as Tax Back Europe's authorised agent. In that structure, the retailer sells the goods to Tax Back Europe or the relevant Tax Back Europe entity, and you pay the retailer on our behalf.
The participating retailer may issue or make available an invoice, sales record or other purchase record for the relevant transaction.
Where this Ireland-specific arrangement applies, Tax Back Europe may sell the goods on to you at the same price at which the goods were sold by the retailer. The second sale from Tax Back Europe to you may be reflected in a Tax Back Europe invoice, sales record, Export Voucher or other claim documentation.
Our acceptance of that sale structure is conditional on the underlying purchase and claim being valid, eligible and supported by the participating retailer and the relevant VAT refund process.
You may take possession of the goods on our behalf when the goods are purchased from the retailer. Ownership may pass to Tax Back Europe and then immediately to you, as reflected in the relevant country-specific process.
You agree that you will not be entitled to claim from us the amount that you paid to the retailer on our behalf merely because we deduct or set off from that amount the equal amount payable by you to us for the onward sale of the goods.
Where this Ireland-specific arrangement applies, you agree that the VAT credit, refund entitlement or value indicated as VAT on the relevant refund form or Export Voucher may be transferred or assigned to Tax Back Europe for the purpose of operating the VAT refund process and paying the net refund to you in accordance with these Terms.
Nothing in this Schedule removes or reduces any mandatory consumer rights that you have under applicable law.
Where the Ireland-specific arrangement applies and Tax Back Europe is treated as the seller to you for the relevant transaction, Tax Back Europe will remain responsible for any mandatory legal obligations that cannot lawfully be excluded. However, our participating retailer arrangements are intended to preserve your practical ability to raise ordinary returns, exchanges, refund requests, faulty-goods issues, product-quality issues and other consumer-rights matters with the retailer, or through Tax Back Europe where applicable.
If goods are defective, faulty, not as described or otherwise give rise to a legal right to a remedy, you should contact the retailer and/or Tax Back Europe as soon as possible. We may ask you to provide evidence, return goods, allow inspection or follow a retailer process before a remedy or refund is confirmed.
If you receive a refund, replacement, exchange or other remedy affecting the purchase after a VAT refund claim has been submitted, you must tell VatCake promptly. We may cancel, adjust or recover any VAT refund where the goods are returned, not exported, cancelled, refunded, replaced or otherwise no longer eligible.