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Sri Lanka Tourist VAT Refund Calculator

Find out how much cash you can reclaim at Colombo airport before you fly. Enter your eligible purchases and the tool returns the 18% VAT refund, checks the Rs 50,000 minimum, and confirms your TVRS eligibility. No signup, sources cited below.

By Induwara AshinsanaUpdated Jun 14, 2026
Estimate your VAT refund
IRD TVRS · 18% VAT
Rs

Enter only eligible goods — VAT-liable items you'll carry out as baggage.

Quick amounts
Eligibility check
Estimated cash refund
Rs 72,000
Tick all eligibility boxes to claim
VAT component (18%)
Rs 72,000
Net value (before VAT)
Rs 400,000

Qualifies — net purchases reach the minimum

Your net spend of Rs 400,000 meets the Rs 50,000 threshold (exclusive of VAT).

Eligibility checklist

  • Not a citizen or resident of Sri LankaThe scheme is for foreign visitors only — citizens and residents can't claim.
  • Holds a tourist visa and is 18 or olderA valid tourist visa and minimum age of 18 are required to claim.
  • Staying in Sri Lanka under 90 daysVisits of 90 days or more fall outside the tourist definition.
  • Goods leave the country as accompanied baggageGoods must be carried out as baggage and shown to customs at departure.

4 conditions not yet ticked. The refund only pays out when all four hold.

What to do at the airport

  1. 1Buy from a retailer displaying the TVRS emblem and ask for a Tourist VAT Refund Invoice (TVRI).
  2. 2Keep the goods unused and packed for inspection — customs verifies them before you check in.
  3. 3Claim your cash refund at the TVRS counter (Bank of Ceylon) in the BIA departure lounge.

Estimate only. The refund is the 18% VAT on eligible goods, paid in LKR cash at the airport after customs inspection. Minimum qualifying spend is Rs 50,000 net of VAT. No service fee is published by the IRD, so the full VAT is shown. Sources cited below.

How it works

The estimator applies Sri Lanka's Tourist VAT Refund Scheme (TVRS), published by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD). Under the scheme a foreign visitor can reclaim the Value Added Tax paid on eligible goods bought from authorised retailers and exported as baggage. Sri Lanka's standard VAT rate is 18%, effective 1 January 2024, and the refund equals the VAT actually paid on those goods.

  1. Find the net (VAT-exclusive) value. If you enter a VAT-inclusive price P, the net value is P ÷ 1.18. If you enter a net figure, it is used as-is.
  2. Compute the refundable VAT. VAT = net × 0.18. For an inclusive price this is identically P × 18/118 — the tool computes it both ways and they agree to the rupee.
  3. Apply the minimum-purchase rule. The TVRS requires at least Rs 50,000 of eligible purchases exclusive of VAT. You may consolidate up to 3 invoices from the same retailer on the same day. If your net spend is below Rs 50,000, the tool reports the shortfall and the refund is zero.
  4. Gate on eligibility. The refund is only payable to a non-citizen, non-resident visitor on a tourist visa, aged 18 or over, staying under 90 days, who exports the goods as baggage. Each unmet condition shows as a warning rather than failing silently.
  5. Result. When the threshold and all eligibility conditions hold, the estimated cash refund equals the VAT computed in step 2, paid in LKR at the airport. The IRD publishes no handling or service fee on the TVRS pages, so the full VAT is shown; if a fee is ever introduced, a single rate edit in the data module updates every output.

The refund is an estimate. The actual amount is paid in person at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) departure lounge after customs inspects your goods, against a Tourist VAT Refund Invoice (TVRI) issued by the retailer.

Worked examples

Gems + clothing, VAT-inclusive price

Rs 472,000 inclusive

  1. Net value: Rs 472,000 ÷ 1.18 = Rs 400,000
  2. VAT: Rs 400,000 × 18% = Rs 72,000
  3. Cross-check: Rs 472,000 × 18/118 = Rs 72,000 ✓
  4. Net Rs 400,000 ≥ Rs 50,000 → qualifies
  5. Estimated refund: Rs 72,000

Exactly at the minimum, net price

Rs 50,000 net

  1. Net value entered: Rs 50,000
  2. VAT: Rs 50,000 × 18% = Rs 9,000
  3. Net Rs 50,000 ≥ Rs 50,000 → qualifies (at the threshold)
  4. Estimated refund: Rs 9,000

Below the threshold

Rs 40,000 net

  1. Net value entered: Rs 40,000
  2. VAT would be Rs 40,000 × 18% = Rs 7,200…
  3. …but net Rs 40,000 < Rs 50,000 → does not qualify
  4. Shortfall: Rs 50,000 − Rs 40,000 = Rs 10,000 more needed
  5. Estimated refund: Rs 0

Frequently asked questions

Sources & references

The 18% rate and Rs 50,000 minimum on this page were last cross-checked against the IRD sources on 2026-06-14. The page is reviewed whenever the IRD revises the VAT rate or the TVRS rules.

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Comments & feedback

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