Originally Posted by
FlyingBoat
The problem coolcoil is the OP said he is booking on Orbit, etc. Many of these require prepayment and they charge the tax. How do we get that refunded? You stated, you first need to pay at the hotel. What if you prepaid through a travel site? How would we get that refunded?
I just did a quick search for Bogotá on Trivago. The first hotel that came up was NH Royal La Boheme
Booking on the NH website. The reservation is guaranteed by credit card but not paid. So you simply tell them you are not liable for VAT when you check in
Booking on hotels.com. I did not check if the reservation is prepaid or not but it stipulates that the VAT is paid locally in the hotel if applicable
Booking on booking.com. Reservation guaranteed with a card but paid locally
Booking on agoda.com. Agoda charges clients and the VAT is included in the total price but the rate is wrong.
So simply do not prepay through a travel site that charges you the VAT upfront. Paying at the hotel and then reclaiming it at the airport when you leave is not optimal advice. The tax-refund process is really for tax-free shopping and not for reclaiming taxes that you are not liable to pay in the first instance.