Tax-free Shopping (TFS) allows international travelers to claim back the sales tax or Value-Added Tax (VAT) on their purchases from a Tax-Free Shopping provider (TFS provider) such as Global Blue. A TFS provider is an organization that refunds the shopper and takes care of the paperwork with the authorities. We can share the shopper's encrypted card number with the TFS provider so that it is easier for the provider to refund the shopper on their card. This is referred to as secure card capture.
Supporting TFS drives sales from international shoppers because of its convenience, and can be a great source of data about international shoppers. To offer TFS with secure card capture to your shoppers, your TFS provider needs to integrate with your POS app.
Requirements
Before you begin, take into account the following requirements, limitations, and preparations.
| Requirement | Description |
|---|---|
| Integration type | A Terminal API integration with payment terminals, or a Mobile solution. You do not need Customer Area roles or API credentials other than the standard roles and credentials for your integration or solution. |
| Webhooks | You need to set up Send card number to <TFS provider> webhooks. See the instructions on this page. |
| Limitations | The following limitations apply:
|
| Setup steps | Before you begin, you need to set up tax-free shopping. |
How it works
The role of Adyen in the tax-free flow is limited. Secure card capture enables us to send a notification with the shopper's encrypted card details to the TFS provider.
For an overview of the flow, select the tab for your integration or solution.
With the tax-free form and the receipt, the shopper can claim the VAT refund from the TFS provider. As part of this process, the shopper has to take the tax-free form to the customs desk at the airport or border, to get export validation. Customs will place a customs stamp on the form, or use an electronic system for validation. The shopper then needs to send or hand in the (electronically) validated form to the TFS provider.
Set up tax-free shopping
Before you begin offering tax-free shopping to your shoppers, you need to set up the feature.
Select the tab for your integration or solution.
Set up notifications to your TFS provider
Configure a Send card number to <TFS provider> webhook. If the shopper agrees to share their card details, we send the following data fields to your TFS provider:
- The PSP reference of the transaction.
- The shopper's encrypted card number.
- The BIN of the shopper's card.
If your TFS provider is Global Blue, use
https://www.adyen.comas the URL for Server configuration for the "Send card number to Global Blue" webhook.We recommend adding a meaningful message to the Description that identifies it as part of the tax-free shopping flow.
Whether we send this notification is determined by the taxfree.indicator flag in the payment request. If the notification is sent, you see this on the transaction in your Customer Area. The POS tile of the transaction includes:
- Tax Free Indicator: true
- Tax Free Identifier: the ID that the TFS provider returned to acknowledge the card details.
This notification is needed for testing and when you go live. Note that the shopper can claim the tax refund regardless of whether we notified the TFS provider of the shopper's encrypted card number.
Handle the tax-free flow
Select the tab for your integration or solution.
Test the tax-free flow
In most cases, your TFS provider organizes an end-to-end test between themselves, Adyen, you, and your POS system provider.
In general, to test the happy flow, you need to use a card with a BIN that is eligible for tax refunds. Otherwise, the TFS provider returns a message that a tax refund is not possible.
- Make sure that you configured Send card number to <TFS provider> notifications for your test account.
- Discuss with your TFS provider which card numbers (PAN) on your test card you are allowed to use for tax refund testing. (The PAN includes the BIN.)
- Optional in a Terminal API integration using payment terminals: during the card acquisition step, use one of the allowed test card PANs and the associated currency.
The POS app should now show that the card is eligible for a tax refund. This depends on how the eligibility check is set up with your TFS provider and POS system. - Send a payment request with taxfree.indicator set to true, and complete the payment on the terminal. Find the PSP reference of the Transaction in the transactionID.
- Issue a tax-free form from your POS app based on the specifications provided by the TFS provider.
- In your Customer Area, look up the transaction by PSP reference and check that the POS tile contains an ID in the Tax Free Identifier field. If this field is empty, contact your TFS provider to discover what went wrong.