Turkey Tax Free NOT

Turkey has a tax refund on purchases of single receipt of 118 Lira and above.   The percentage varies from city to city. You may claim your tax refund  at the Tax Refund  counter at the airport before you enter the immigration.

We arrived at the Tax Free customs counter at almost noon time.  The Turkish lady told us to go to the Etihad counter first to check-in our luggage,  then come back to the tax free counter with our tax free items.  She spoke English haltingly so we had difficulty deciphering the information.  We did, as we understood it.

We went back to the tax free counter at around 12:10 pm.  There was a family ahead of us who had so many tax free forms.  We were next in line.   I could tell that they shopped a lot by mere looking at the pile of tax free forms on the counter.

We discovered that the processing was taking some time because  the officers were double checking each and every tax form and rejecting some of the receipts saying that the stores which issued them were not familiar to them.

Ha?  How could they memorize the thousands of stores around Turkey?  Rejecting a tax refund claim is unfair to the tourists and shoppers.

It’s not our problem if the stores where we shopped from were small or not popular or the officers do not know them.  The Turkish government is bound to refund the tax on valid purchases with receipts and accompanying tax free forms.

Do we have to inquire from the store first if they are known to the tax free officers before we make a purchase to make sure that we get the refund?

After waiting for sometime,  the tax officers told us that they’re going to have their lunch break.  What?  We have a flight to catch.   The officer told me he’s hungry.  I told him,  I understand.  But we are hungry too,  And we have a flight to catch.  Go take your lunch,  but someone has to replace you.  Look at the long line.   I even offered him a box of chocolate cookies.

But no,  those two guys stood up and left us, dozens of passengers,  who are very anxious to get out of there to catch our respective flights.

They didn’t even tell us what time they’re coming back.  The least they could do is to tell the passengers “okay guys,  we’ll be back in 15 minutes,  or so-so minutes”.  How inconsiderate.

We couldn’t wait indefinitely.  We couldn’t second guess whether we should wait or run to our gates.    It was hard to make a blind guess so for fear of missing our flight,  we hesitantly  left.

As soon as we arrived home yesterday afternoon,  we opened all our luggage and placed all tax free items in one luggage.

Today,  I called up the Turkish Embassy around noon and the Filipina telephone operator told me to call again at 2 pm because the one in-charge was having lunch break.

I loaded the luggage in the van with every intention to go straight to the Turkish Embassy in Paraiso Street, Dasmarinas Village in Makati City.     I decided to go straight to my office first which is just a block away from the Dasmarinas Village’s gate.

I called up the Turkish Embassy in Manila again at around 2:30 pm regarding our tax refund.  They said they don’t do refunds,  only at the airport.  Some embassies are considerate enough to refund the tax provided you bring the receipts, the tax forms and the goods.  But the Turkish embassy officers said it loud and clear.  They don’t.

So many friends and relatives have told us that they are planning to visit Turkey soon.

Dear tourists,  remember the following:

Keep in mind that the officers take their lunch breaks in total disregard of passengers’ flight times.   Be there at the tax free counter at least an hour before 12 noon.     Check in first, then go to the tax free counter with your luggage containing the tax free goods.  If you only have a few,  then put all of them in your hand carry bag.

It’s hard to predict if there would be less passengers claiming refunds so better be early than to feel agitated.

Turkey is positioning itself to be a global player.  They are sprucing up Istanbul for their Olympics 2020 bid.

Attention:  TURKEY:  please  include in your improvement plans:

ADD  more TAX Free Customs counters with English speaking officers at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul.   They must have rotation,  meaning they cannot take their lunch, coffee, dinner breaks all at the same time.

The tax free refund counters should be open at all times to provide efficient and fast tax refund service to tourists and passengers.  We cannot wait for 30 minutes, or one hour. We have flights to catch.