Terms & Conditions

Acceptance of terms and conditions

Services provided by vatfree.com are subject to the following terms and conditions. We reserve the right, at our discretion, to update or revise these terms and conditions of use. Please check them periodically for changes. These terms and conditions(the "Terms") govern your use of this website or any of the vatfree.com branded microsites. You will be deemed to be bound bound by these Terms when you use, access or browse the Site,register your details with us, submit an email or letter or subscribe for email or online services. For the purposes of these Terms, "Content" shall mean all or part of any text, graphics, layout,logos,images,audio material, films or other moving images,product details and/or software published or otherwise available on the website from time to time (including, anything made available for download).

 

A TRANSLATION OF THE GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF VATFREE.COM

For travelers (customers)

ARTICLE 1 - DEFINITIONS

The following definitions shall apply in these general terms and conditions:

  • vatfree.com: the private limited company formed under the laws of the Netherlands VATfree NL B.V.

  • merchant: the legal entity from which the consumer has purchased goods

  • consumer: the private individual who has purchased goods from merchant and in respect to whom the merchant is allowed to apply the zero VAT rate

  • records: all items made available to vatfree.com by consumer, including documents and data storage media, and all items produced by vatfree.com in executing the assignment, including documents and data storage media.

  • assignment: the instruction(s) given by consumer to vatfree.com to request VAT restitution from the merchant on his behalf, and to ensure payment of this restitution to consumer, either free of charge or for an agreed service fee. the assignment includes the by consumer to vatfree.com given mandate to collect the VAT via court proceedings, if and when vatfree.com considers such necessary, in which proceedings vatfree.com is explicitly permitted to act in its own name in accordance with article 7:414 of the Dutch civil code. Vatfree.com has sole power of decision on the full retrieving and collection procedure. This mandate is valid until via writing cancelled by the consumer.

  • procuration: the procuration given by consumer to vatfree.com to request for VAT restitution from the merchant on his behalf.

  • refund: the difference between the VAT restitution amount and the agreed service fee

  • service fee: the complete remuneration for the activities carried out by vatfree.com and assigned by the consumer, excluding possibly owed VAT


ARTICLE 2 – SCOPE AND AMENDMENT OF THE GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

  1. These general terms and conditions apply to all legal relations between vatfree.com and the consumer. Any amendments to these terms and conditions must be expressly confirmed in writing by both parties. The consumer may not rely upon any amendment to or cancellation of one or more of these terms and conditions unless this has been expressly confirmed by vatfree.com in writing.

  2. Deviating or complementing clauses are only valid when they have been expressly accepted in writing by vatfree.com and are only applicable to one specific assignment.

  3. A consumer with whom vatfree.com has contracted under these general terms and conditions is deemed to have agreed to the applicability of these terms and conditions regarding future assignments.  

  4. If one or more of these general terms and conditions are null and/or void, the remaining terms and conditions will still apply in full. vatfree.com and consumer will then consult each other to agree upon new terms and conditions to replace the nullified or void terms and conditions, in which case the purpose and essence of the original terms and conditions will be taken into account.

  5. In case of interpretation of the content and essence of these terms and conditions, the Dutch text is always decisive.


ARTICLE 3 – COMMISIONEE

Vatfree.com is the sole contractual other party in agreements entered into with consumer.


ARTICLE 4 – ASSIGNMENT, PROVISION OF INFORMATION BY CONSUMER

  1. The consumer is obliged to make available all information which vatfree.com considers necessary for the correct performance of the activities assigned to it and/or which the consumer knows or could reasonably know that vatfree.com needs for the correct performance of the activities assigned to it in the form, in the quantity and in the manner as required by vatfree.com, and moreover in due time such that vatfree.com is able to execute the assignment without delays. The consumer is also obliged to provide vatfree.com with all information and records which vatfree.com needs in order to be able to comply with general regulations relating to the performance of its business activities, such as tax regulations.

  2. Except where precluded by the content or nature of the assignment, the consumer warrants the accuracy, completeness and reliability of the information made available to vatfree.com, even where that information originates from a third party. Except where precluded by the content of the assignment, vatfree.com shall not be obliged to perform a specific investigation into the accuracy and completeness of the information provided by the consumer.

  3. The consumer shall notify vatfree.com immediately and in full of any facts or circumstances which the consumer knows or could reasonably be expected to know are or could be of importance for the execution of the assignment by vatfree.com.

  4. If the consumer, other than through the action of vatfree.com, fails to comply with its obligations arising from paragraphs 1 to 3 inclusive of this Article and as a result vatfree.com incurs additional costs and work or other loss or damage, the consumer shall be obliged to reimburse vatfree.com for such costs, extra work and loss. In particular vatfree.com reserves the right to increase the service fee with an amount of € 5,50, if the information on the registration form does not exactly resemble the information on the merchants’ original invoice and vatfree.com is therefore forced to complete and/or modify the registration form herself.  

  5. Additional fees and costs arising from any delay in the execution of the assignment due to the consumer failing to provide the necessary information and records either on time or in the proper manner shall be borne by the consumer.


ARTICLE 5 – EXECUTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT

  1. Assignments shall be executed on the basis of a reasonably skilled and diligently acting Professional. Vatfree.com does not however guarantee attainment of the envisaged result of an assignment. nor can she be held liable for not reaching the envisaged result. The service fee is due, regardless the result of the execution of the assignment. In particular the consumer is still obliged to pay the service fee in the case that vatfree.com cannot (fully) execute the assignment due to incorrect or incomplete fulfillment of the consumers obligations or insufficient follow up of instructions given to the consumer by vatfree.com. On www.vatfree.com the required documents and other conditions for VAT restitution are listed in detail.

  2. Unless agreed otherwise explicitly and in writing, vatfree.com shall not be obliged to have the assignment executed by the person(s) employed at or by vatfree.com which the consumer had in mind when awarding the assignment. The assignment shall not end in the event of the temporary or permanent unavailability of that person or those persons.

  3. Execution of the assignment may not be transferred in whole or in part to a third party unless this has been agreed between the consumer and vatfree.com.

  4. In the event of an assignment with accurately defined activities, vatfree.com shall not carry out any additional work nor charge the consumer for any such work unless this has been agreed in advance with the consumer.


ARTICLE 6 - DEADLINES

Unless explicitly agreed otherwise, deadlines for the performance of activities shall be no more than target deadlines. Unless (further) execution of the assignment is indisputably impossible, vatfree.com shall only be in default for the exceeding deadlines if, after vatfree.com has been given a reasonable deadline in writing for the performance and completion of the activities after exceeding the original deadline, the performance of the activities has still not been completed following the expiry of this second deadline due to circumstances attributable to vatfree.com.


ARTICLE 7 – INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Vatfree.com reserves all rights with respect to the intellectual property which it uses or has used in the execution of the consumer’s assignment, in so far as such rights are vested by law.

  2. The consumer is expressly forbidden to duplicate, disclose or exploit intellectual products, including vatfree.com leaflets, in writing or otherwise, all in the broadest sense of the word and irrespective of whether third parties are involved.


ARTICLE 8 – RECEIPTS

By registering for an account at vatfree.com, the consumer agrees to the following; original receipts sent to and processed by vatfree.com are subsequently in the possession of vatfree.com. Vatfree.com is obliged to store the original stamped receipts for the minimum period of 3 months, for eventual checking validity by the dutch tax-autority. After this period the original receipts will be disposed. Vatfree.com is not obliged to return or forward original receipts to consumers, competitors, uncooperative stores or other claiming parties. 


ARTICLE 9 - FEE

  • Unless expressly agreed otherwise, the activities performed shall be charged at the service fee published on www.vatfree.com at the time of the assignment. 

  • Vatfree.com is entitled to change her fees on January 1st each year. In the event of alteration of the fees vatfree.com will inform the consumer without delay, and/or will send the consumer an overview of the altered fees without delay.

  • If fees are subject to change after the contract has been entered into but before the assignment is completed, vatfree.com shall be entitled to adjust the agreed rate accordingly, unless agreed otherwise by the consumer and vatfree.com. In the event of an increase of fees the consumer is entitled to complain within fourteen (14) days after reception of the list of altered fees.  If the consumer does not complain in a timely manner he will be deemed to have implicitly agreed with the altered fees.


ARTICLE 10 - PAYMENT

1. Payment of amounts owed by the consumer to vatfree.com shall be effected without deduction, discount or set off, and by deduction from the VAT restitution amount which vatfree.com is obliged to pay to consumer, unless agreed otherwise.

2. If vatfree.com cannot collect the service fee (fully) in the way set out in paragraph 1, vatfree.com will send the consumer an invoice for the remaining amount due. Where no other period has been agreed, payment shall be made no later than fourteen (14) days after the invoice date.

3. Overdue payments shall attract interest of 1% per month, parts of a month being counted as full months. In addition, all costs, both judicial and extrajudicial, which vatfree.com is forced to incur in order to collect amounts which the consumer incorrectly fails to pay, shall be borne by the consumer. Any payments made by the consumer will always first be used to balance any outstanding interest and costs, and then to balance the longest outstanding invoices, even if the consumer states that the payment relates to invoices of a later date.

4. Payment of the refund to the consumer will take place after vatfree.com has received the concerning VAT restitution from the merchant or after vatfree.com – in the case of a contract with the merchant – has automatically collected the refund from the merchant. In the event of joint VAT restitution assignments the entire VAT amount of the various purchases needs to be received before vatfree.com is obliged to pay the consumer the refund. The consumer can request for partial payment of the refund, when at least half of the total VAT amount minus the service fee has been received by vatfree.com.

5. Payment of refunds by vatfree.com to consumer on a bank account within the EU is free of charge. Through paypal or credit card a supplement handling fee of €2 is charged per transaction. One transaction includes all outstanding refunds to be made (of multiple receipts). Transaction cost for payment by vatfree.com on a bank account outside the EU are for the account of the beneficiary.


ARTICLE 11 - COMPLAINTS

  • Complaints by the consumer on the grounds of a defect or shortcoming attributable to vatfree.com in the execution of an assignment are barred if the consumer has not notified vatfree.com of that defect or shortcoming in writing within sixty days after it has discovered or could reasonably have been expected to discover the defect and in any event after one year has expired since the action or omission took place which gave rise to the defect.

  • Complaints as referred to in the first paragraph shall not suspend the payment obligation of the consumer.

  • If vatfree.com is not able to pay an owed refund to the consumer due to reasons which are not attributable to vatfree.com (such as the absence of correct bank details of the consumer), this amount will be donated to a charity of vatfree.com’s choice two years after the date of approval of the underlying VAT restitution request.


ARTICLE 12 - LIABILITY FOR LOSS

  • If vatfree.com is obliged to reimburse the consumer for loss suffered by the consumer, vatfree.com shall be obliged to reimburse the loss to a maximum of three times the reimbursement excluding value-added tax that is or would be due to the consumer for the (part-) assignment or (part-) assignments of which the activities form part that have led to the loss. If the liability for the loss is covered by an insurance, vatfree.com’s liability shall under no circumstances exceed the payment received under the insurance, augmented by the excess agreed by vatfree.com under the insurance.

  • Vatfree.com shall not be obliged to reimburse loss:

  • Caused by third parties involved in an assignment awarded to vatfree.com, unless those third parties were involved in the execution of the assignment on the initiative of vatfree.com and the consumer demonstrates that vatfree.com failed to act with due care in the selection of the third parties concerned.

  • Which is the result of incorrect or incomplete information provided by the consumer or a third party, unless the incorrectness or incompleteness could have been absolutely clear for vatfree.com and vatfree.com failed to notify the consumer of that incorrectness or incompleteness.

  • Which is the result of damage or loss of information during the transport of information by post or in any other way between vatfree.com and the consumer or between one of them and third parties.

  • Which arises because third parties have acquired unauthorised access to information concerning the consumer, for example by intercepting e-mail messages, intercepting other forms of electronic information transfer or gaining access to computer systems.

  • Which is not reported in writing within sixty days after the consumer has discovered or could reasonably have discovered the onset of the loss and/or the potential onset of (further) loss, and in any event which is not reported in writing within one year after the action or omission which caused the loss.

  • Vatfree.com may also rely upon the provisions set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article if the consumer enforces a claim which has passed to it from a third party or which belongs to that third party and which relates to loss arising from an event for which vatfree.com is legally liable.

  • The professionals, the legal persons retained by those professionals in connection with their activities for vatfree.com, and any other persons involved in the execution of assignments awarded by the consumer to vatfree.com may also rely upon the provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article.

  • The restrictions of liability referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article donot apply to vatfree.com itself or to the professionals if they are guilty of an intentional act or omission or of deliberate recklessness.


ARTICLE 13 - INDEMNITY

  • The consumer indemnifies vatfree.com against claims from third parties which relate to an event for which vatfree.com can be held liable vis-à-vis the consumer, at least in so far as vatfree.com does not have to pay more compensation to those third parties than it would have had to pay to the consumer if vatfree.com itself had been held liable for that loss. The indemnification also extends to the costs of defense against such claims.

  • In the event that a third party holds a professional, the legal person retained by that professional in connection with the professional’s activities for vatfree.com and/or another person involved in assisting in the execution of an assignment awarded to vatfree.com by the consumer for loss in connection with an event for which vatfree.com can be held at liable vis-à-vis the consumer, the consumer shall indemnify each of them in full against such claim, including the costs of defense against that claim.


ARTICLE 14 – NON-DISCLOSURE AND PRIVACY

1.    Parties will not disclose any confidential information which they have acquired from each other or from third parties in the execution of their agreement . Information is deemed to be confidential if it has been specified as such by the other party or if this arises from the nature of the information, the law or legal precedents.

2.   Vatfree.com respects the privacy of all users of her website. All information that is collected from the website will be treated confidentially. Vatfree.com does not sell personal information to third parties and will only provide third parties with this information if she is legally obliged to do so or if it is necessary for execution of the assignment.

3.     Marketing information will only be provided in compliance with the applicable (privacy) law and legislation.

4.    Vatfree,com uses cookies to recognize visitors of her website as a tool to improve her services. Vatfree.com always processes information she collects through these cookies anonymously.


ARTICLE 15 – FINAL PROVISIONS

  • All legal relationships between the consumer and vatfree.com shall be governed exclusively by Dutch law.

  • All disputes between the consumer and vatfree.com shall be placed before the competent Dutch civil court in Amsterdam.

  • The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article also apply to any legal relationships and disputes between the consumer and a professional, a legal person retained by that professional in connection with the activities for vatfree.com, or a person involved in assisting in the execution of an assignment granted by the consumer to vatfree.com.

These Terms and Conditions is a translation of the Dutch original of the General Terms and Conditions of VATfree NL B.V. Although the greatest care has been taken to render the Dutch version in English as accurately as possible,when differences between these versions occur, the Dutch version is leading.