Part 1 · the same in every country
Common terms
1. The service
VATRS helps diplomatic and consular staff and other entitled persons keep track of the value-added tax (VAT) they can claim back. We collect your receipts and electronic invoices, read them, check them and prepare the information you need for your refund claim. VATRS is a private service, not a government agency. It is not part of, approved or endorsed by any government, embassy, consulate, mission or government office of any country, or by any tax authority. We do not decide refund claims.
2. Your account and the information you give us
- You must give us accurate, complete and current information, including your full name, your personal email address and the diplomatic ID number you use for your VAT reimbursement.
- You may only register for yourself, and only if you are entitled to claim VAT refunds in the country you choose.
- You log in with one-time codes sent to your verified email or WhatsApp number. Keep access to those contacts secure; actions taken after a valid login are treated as yours.
3. Your receipts address
When your account is activated we create a personal, receive-only email address for you. You can give it to vendors so they send electronic invoices there, or forward invoices to it. It only receives receipts: it cannot be used to send email and you never need to log in to it. Messages sent to it are processed as described below.
4. How your files are processed
- Files you send to your receipts address, forward, send by WhatsApp or upload are processed automatically.
- Some files are read with the help of artificial-intelligence providers, which may include Anthropic, Google (Gemini) and self-hosted Ollama models. Only the receipt file itself is sent to the provider — not your name, contact details or account information.
- Automatic reading can make mistakes. Receipts that fail our checks are reviewed again, and you can ask us to read any receipt again.
- Files that are not receipts may be set aside; you can tell us when a file really is a receipt.
4a. Contacting businesses for you
When you create an account, you agree that we may contact the businesses on your receipts — using the business contacts we keep — to ask them to issue, complete or correct your electronic invoice. To do so we share with them only what they need: your name, your ID number and the details of the purchase. You can switch this off at any time in Settings in your profile.
5. What you see and what is paid
In your account you can see, free of charge, the total VAT you can claim, the list of your receipts (date, vendor, status and submission date) and the files we received. Downloading your receipts with all invoice details (tax amounts, invoice identifiers and the original files) is a paid feature. The price is shown in your account before you pay.
Prices. You pay a flat price for each calendar month that has at least one receipt, counted by the purchase date on the receipt. The price depends on the country where you claim:
- Colombia: USD 10.00 per month, or USD 100.00 for 12 months bought together.
The number of receipts in a month does not change the price. We do not add VAT or any other tax to our fee. When you pay by card, the card provider's fee is added; the total is shown before you pay. When you pay with a card from outside the USA, Stripe sells to you as the merchant of record and adds the VAT or sales tax of your country. A promotion code can lower the price of months paid in advance (a monthly or yearly plan) for a limited time; it does not lower the price of past months. We may end a promotion at any time, and a plan that renews after that pays the normal price.
Referral coupons. When a colleague signs up with your invitation link and makes their first payment, you receive a coupon for one free month (worth one month at your country's price: Colombia USD 10.00). You can earn up to 4 coupons. You choose the month a coupon pays for under "Your receipt months" on the Refund form page. A coupon has no cash value and cannot be exchanged or transferred. Signing up alone does not earn a coupon.
Plans that renew. You can pay ahead for a month or a year. A plan paid by a saved card renews for the same period when it ends; we send you a reminder before each renewal, and you can turn renewal off at any time in your account. A plan without a saved card does not renew: we send you a link to renew it.
Exports are final and non-refundable. Once you download, email or create an export of your data — your VAT refund form or your receipts — the payment for that export cannot be refunded, because the data has been delivered. Before every export you confirm that you understand this and enter a one-time code sent to your email or WhatsApp, so an export never happens by accident.
5a. Account status
The "Your receipt months" part of the Refund form page (in your account's menu) shows every calendar month that has at least one receipt, counted by the purchase date on the receipt, and whether that month is paid, paid by a coupon, unlocked by our team, or not paid yet. Our team may unlock a month without charge, for example to fix a problem; an unlock can be reversed by our team, but a month you paid for is never locked again.
5b. Downloads and fair use
- You can download the original file of a receipt from a month that is paid, paid by a coupon or unlocked, without the hourly limit (a daily safety limit against automated copying still applies).
- From months that are not paid yet, you can download at most 5 receipt files per hour.
- Downloading and exporting are available only after you agree to the current version of these terms.
- We may limit or suspend access when we see automated or abusive use, for example scripts that copy many files.
7. Closing your account and deletion on request
- You can close your account at any time from its settings. Closed accounts and all their data are deleted after a period set for your country (Colombia 60 days) and cannot be recovered after that.
- Old receipts: a receipt never used in a VAT refund claim is deleted when it can no longer be claimed (2 years after purchase in Colombia). A receipt used in a claim is kept as proof (Colombia 5 years), then deleted. We email you 30 days before; download any copy you want to keep.
- You can also ask us to delete your account and data sooner by writing to us from your registered email address.
- Payment records are kept after an account is deleted, without your other data, for the period the law requires (Colombia 10 years).
8. Messages and subscriptions
When you create an account, you agree to receive these messages by email, and by WhatsApp when you give us a WhatsApp number:
- status updates and reminders about your receipts, claims and deadlines;
- the VATRS newsletter: tips, new countries and product news (about once a month).
You can unsubscribe from each of these at any time: in Settings in your profile, with the unsubscribe link in each email, or by sending STOP on WhatsApp.
We also send login codes and the messages needed to run your account (for example confirmation links, security notices and deletion warnings). You cannot switch these off while your account is open.
9a. Accuracy
We do our absolute best to read, calculate and check every receipt accurately, and we contact businesses to complete missing or incorrect invoices when you allow it. Even so, automatic reading can make mistakes and we do not guarantee 100% accuracy. Check your receipts and your VAT refund form before you file them.
10. No guarantee of refund outcome
The decision on every refund claim belongs to the competent authority. We do not guarantee that any claim will be accepted, the amount that will be refunded, or the time it will take. We never file a claim on your behalf: you hand in your own claim. Up to that step, we help you with absolutely everything we can, to make it as easy and as automatic as possible. You remain responsible for the accuracy of your claims.
10a. Liability
As far as the law allows, we are not liable for indirect loss, such as a refund that you do not get. Our total liability to you is limited to the amount you paid us in the last 12 months, or USD 100 if that is more. This does not limit any liability that the law does not let us limit, and it does not change your mandatory consumer rights.
11. Acceptable use
Do not send files that are not yours to claim, unlawful content, or material meant to harm the service. We may suspend accounts that break these terms.
12. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms. If a change is significant we will tell you before it takes effect; continuing to use the service after that means you accept the new version.
13. Who we are
Rara Avis L.L.C., 30 N Gould St Ste R, Sheridan, WY 82801, USA. Contact: [email protected].
14. Law and disputes
These terms are governed by the law of the State of Wyoming, USA. Disputes go to the courts of the State of Wyoming. Mandatory consumer law of your country still applies.
Part 2 below holds the rules for your country. If Part 2 differs from Part 1, Part 2 applies for that country.