Coromandel Research Hub

The Rising Cost of Travel Visas

Coromandel SAS — Wed, 11 Nov 2026 05:00:00 GMT

First published by Coromandel SAS at https://www.coromandel.co/en/research/travel-visa-costs-2026/

Illustration created with artificial intelligence for Coromandel Research.

Coromandel Research · Research reference date: 9 November 2026

A family holiday can become expensive even before anyone buys an airline ticket. For travellers who need visas, the first bill may be for permission to make the journey at all. Multiply that bill by four, add the paperwork and the time needed to apply, and a holiday begins to look rather less inviting.

Governments encourage visitors to enjoy their cities, landscapes and culture. Yet the cost and complexity of obtaining entry permission can make those same visitors think twice. For a family working within a fixed budget, the question is practical: how much money must be spent, or set aside, before the trip can begin?

Coromandel Research has examined tourism and short business-meeting entry costs for travellers of five nationalities—Colombian, British, Kenyan, Indian and Chinese—across eight destinations: the United States of America (USA), Colombia, the United Kingdom (UK), the Schengen States, India, Thailand, Cambodia and mainland China.

The comparison reveals considerable differences. The passport a traveller holds, the purpose of the visit and the application route can all change the bill. A visa exemption may remove an application fee, while a paid electronic authorisation can still be required. A refundable deposit can impose a much greater upfront burden than the fee itself.

How the comparison works

The study covers ordinary passport holders normally applying from their country of nationality, taking a short holiday or attending business meetings without local employment. Each of the 40 destination–nationality pairs is assessed for both purposes. Citizens entering their own countries are marked “Home”.

All comparison figures are expressed in United States dollars (USD), using the research conversion basis dated 9 November 2026. Electronic visas (eVisas) are distinguished from conventional visas and travel authorisations. The shortest suitable route is used where available; the visas and authorisations therefore do not all have the same validity or conditions. Someone who already holds a valid visa may not need a new application.

These figures are documented subtotals, rather than universal all-inclusive prices. Compulsory local service charges, eligibility conditions and source discrepancies are identified in the notes. Optional agency services, travel to application centres, translations and other incidental expenses are outside the main table.

Visa and authorisation costs by nationality

Each cell: Tourism / Business meetings — USD per adult.

Destination	Nationality of Traveller
Destination	Colombian	British	Kenyan	Indian	Chinese
USA	185 / 185	40.62 / 40.62	185 / 185	185 / 185	216.75 / 216.75
Colombia	Home / Home	0 / 0	138 / 314	138 / 314	138 / 314
UK	≈181.12+ / ≈181.12+	Home / Home	≈181.12+ / ≈181.12+	≈181.12+ / ≈181.12+	≈181.12+ / ≈181.12+
Schengen States	0 / 0	0 / 0	≈100.74+ / ≈100.74+	≈100.74+ / ≈100.74+	≈100.74+ / ≈100.74+
India	25.75 / 123.60	25.75 / 249.26	25.75 / 123.60	Home / Home	≈107.30+ / ≈128.13+
Thailand	40† / 80†	0 / ≈80.50†	≈38.47 / ≈76.95	0 / ≈74.52	0 / 0
Cambodia	30 / 35	30 / 35	30 / 35	30 / 35	30 / 35
China (mainland)	≈96.05 / ≈96.05	0 / 0	≈61.23+ / ≈61.23+	≈30.87 / ≈30.87	Home / Home

0 means a qualifying visa-exempt visit; ≈ indicates a currency conversion; + indicates additional compulsory local charges may apply. The destination notes below explain the principal conditions. The destination notes and stated research limitations form part of this comparison.

When a separate visa is not required

For example, an Indian tourist holding a qualifying US visa with at least 180 days of validity remaining on arrival can visit Colombia without obtaining a separate Colombian visa; airport-transit visas do not qualify. The exemption also covers qualifying Schengen visas or valid US or Schengen residence permits. It is based on the traveller’s nationality and qualifying document, not on departure from the USA: the tourist can arrive from India or another country. This is conditional visa-free entry, subject to immigration admission checks, rather than a visa issued on arrival. Indian Embassy advisory, Colombian exemption rules

The USA row illustrates why different entry routes must be identified. An eligible British citizen may use the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), while many other travellers need a B visitor visa. Chinese holders of qualifying ten-year B visas also require enrolment in the Electronic Visa Update System (EVUS). These authorisations serve different purposes and should not be described as interchangeable visas. The October 2026 fee notice sets ESTA at US$40.62 and EVUS at US$31.75. Official US authorisation fee notice

Tourism and business meetings do not always require different fees. The US visitor categories and the UK’s Standard Visitor route accommodate relevant visits for both purposes. Elsewhere, a tourism exemption should not automatically be extended to a business visit. US visitor visa guidance, UK permitted business activities

What a family of four pays

Four new US B-visa applications cost US$740 in application fees alone. The published fee is US$185 per applicant and is non-refundable. Paying it does not guarantee a successful application. US visa fee schedule

For four ESTA-eligible British travellers needing new authorisations, the corresponding authorisation total is US$162.48. That is US$577.52 less than four B-visa application fees. These are different entry routes, with different eligibility and validity; the figures illustrate the initial expense rather than an identical product. Official authorisation fees

Children’s ages also matter. For a family requiring Schengen visas, two adults and two children aged eight and ten ordinarily pay €270 in basic fees: €90 for each adult and €45 for each child. That is approximately US$302.21 at the study’s conversion rate, before service charges and insurance. A comparison using four adult fees would overstate that family’s basic visa bill. European Commission fee guidance

The UK takes a different approach: each family member needs a separate application and pays the applicable fee. At the published £135 Standard Visitor rate, four applications amount to £540, before any additional charges. Actual amounts collected outside the UK follow the Home Office’s country payment schedules. UK Standard Visitor fees

These sums come before flights, accommodation and spending money. They also leave out the value of time spent completing forms, gathering evidence and attending appointments. For a family saving for a single annual holiday, those demands deserve a place in the travel budget.

US visa bonds: refundable money still has to be found

The United States also requires certain B-1/B-2 visa applicants to post a visa bond of US$10,000, US$15,000 or US$20,000, in addition to the application fee. None of the five nationalities examined in this study—Colombian, British, Kenyan, Indian or Chinese—is currently subject to this nationality-based requirement. Although the bond is conditionally refundable, repayment is not necessarily made immediately after departure. For affected travellers from listed countries, it substantially increases the money needed upfront and may leave those funds unavailable after the trip. US Department of State bond requirements

Adding the US$185 application fee produces upfront subtotals of US$10,185, US$15,185 or US$20,185 for an affected applicant. Only the bond portion is potentially refundable. It should therefore be shown separately from the non-refundable fee, while still being counted in the money that must be found before travel.

This distinction matters beyond the USA. A useful affordability comparison separates fees paid, refundable deposits and savings that must be demonstrated. All can affect whether someone can travel, but they are different financial demands.

The paperwork has a personal cost

Visa applications can require employment details, financial evidence, accommodation information, invitations and biometric data. These requests turn a travel application into a detailed account of a person’s circumstances.

Colombia’s tourist-visa application requirements—for travellers who need to apply—include bank statements covering the preceding six months. Colombian visa requirements

The US central visitor-visa guidance permits requests for evidence of trip purpose, ability to pay and intention to depart. It does not impose a universal six-month bank-statement rule on every visitor. The UK guide similarly discusses evidence of financial circumstances without one blanket six-month requirement. The distinction is important when assessing the burden fairly. US supporting evidence, UK supporting-document guidance

Governments need to assess whether applicants meet their entry conditions. Travellers can still reasonably ask whether the information collected is proportionate, how securely it is handled and how long it is retained. A bank statement may disclose much more than the money available for a holiday. That supports a serious discussion about privacy, without assuming that every request amounts to a violation of a legal right.

Waiting is part of the burden

The time needed to obtain a visa can affect the choice of destination as much as the fee. There is also a difference between waiting for an appointment and waiting for a decision after submitting an application.

The UK ordinarily indicates three weeks for a Standard Visitor decision after identity verification and documents. Schengen processing normally takes 15 days and can extend to 45. Neither figure should be read as a promise covering every stage of preparing the application and securing an appointment. UK processing guidance, Schengen processing guidance

For business travellers, uncertainty may mean missing a meeting or trade event. Families may have school holidays and fixed leave dates to consider. Clear requirements and dependable processing help people plan; unexplained delays make even an affordable fee harder to accept.

Recent fee changes

The UK short visitor fee rose from £127 to £135 on 8 April 2026, an increase of approximately 6.3%. ESTA rose from US$40.27 to US$40.62 on 16 October 2026. These increases provide further examples of rising entry costs, although the trend is not uniform: Cambodia reduced its electronic tourist and ordinary visa fees from US$36 and US$42 to US$30 and US$35 in January 2025. UK fee changes, US fee adjustment, Cambodian government report

What are visa fees paying for?

It is reasonable to ask whether travellers are funding the staff who process their applications. In the Schengen case, the European Commission provides an explicit answer.

The adult fee rose from €80 to €90 in June 2024, an increase of 12.5%. The Commission cited inflation and civil-service salary developments in its review and said the additional revenue would support processing resources, including staff. This is documented evidence of an administrative funding purpose. It does not establish the motives behind every country’s fees. European Commission explanation

There is also a fair question about the service travellers receive in return. If higher charges are intended to support processing, applicants have reason to expect clear instructions, accessible appointments and decisions within published standards.

Welcoming tourists while making entry difficult

Visitors spend money with accommodation providers, restaurants, guides, transport operators and other local businesses. Entry policy therefore has an economic dimension as well as an immigration-control purpose. An application fee is only one part of the wider relationship between a destination and its visitors.

Thailand illustrates the need to examine that relationship carefully. Its revised measures took effect on 15 September 2026, replacing the previous 60-day exemption scheme. The government’s stated considerations included security, tourism, economic interests and reciprocity. It also distinguished tourism exemptions from travel for other purposes. Thai government policy announcement

China offers another example of selective facilitation. Its published policy permits qualifying British ordinary passport holders to visit for tourism or business for up to 30 days without a visa, under arrangements extending through 31 December 2026. Such exemptions reduce the application burden for eligible visitors, while other nationalities still face it. Chinese Embassy visa-waiver guidance

This study compares entry costs and procedures. It does not measure how many travellers abandoned a holiday because of them, or how much visitor spending a destination lost. Those questions would require further evidence. The comparison does, however, show why the cost and convenience of entry belong in any discussion about attracting visitors.

A welcome begins before arrival

The holiday experience starts when a family begins planning. Fees, appointments and document requests help shape its first impression of a destination.

Governments have reasons to maintain entry controls and recover administrative costs. They also have an interest in ensuring that those systems are understandable, proportionate and efficient. Families should be able to see the full compulsory bill, understand what evidence is required and plan around realistic timelines.

For a country asking visitors to come and enjoy its hospitality, the application process is part of the invitation.

Notes on the comparison

USA. The British figure is for eligible ESTA travellers; others may need a US$185 visitor visa. The Chinese figure adds US$31.75 EVUS enrolment for holders of qualifying ten-year visitor visas. Neither route applies automatically to every passport holder. The table excludes the Visa Integrity Fee, which the research records as not currently collected, and assigns no nationality-based bond to the five study nationalities. US fees · Authorisation fees

Colombia. The visa-required totals include assessment and issuance. Indian and Chinese nationals can qualify for short-visit exemption with a US or Schengen visa having at least 180 days of validity remaining on arrival, or a qualifying valid residence permit. Airport-transit visas do not qualify for the Indian exemption. Eligible visitors do not need a separate Colombian visa, so their Colombian visa fee is US$0. The table assumes the traveller does not hold qualifying third-country permission. The assessment charge remains payable when a visa application is required but refused. Requirements · Tourism fees · Business fees · Indian Embassy advisory · Colombian exemption rules

UK. The table converts the £135 statutory fee at the study rate and excludes location-dependent application-centre charges. The Home Office schedules checked on 9 November quote US$188 for a short visitor application from both Colombia and Kenya. Local payment rates differ from the study conversion rate. Visitor fees · Colombia payment quote · Kenya payment quote

Schengen States. Qualifying Colombian and British visitors are visa-exempt. Other adult applicants in the comparison pay €90 plus applicable centre charges. The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), a travel-authorisation system for eligible visa-exempt visitors, was not operational at the research date; no future ETIAS fee is included. Age concessions and other exemptions apply. European Commission

India. Eligible tourist eVisas use the 30-day July–March tariff plus the published 3% bank charge; April–June is cheaper. Business fees and validity differ by nationality. For Chinese applicants, the table shows only the dated embassy government tariff, including its welfare charge: 716 Chinese yuan for tourism and 855 for business. Centre and payment charges are additional. The centre links the same dated tariff and separately lists a 32.01-yuan service charge, but an undated advisory quotes 888 yuan for business. The comparison uses the dated government tariff and does not present the disputed centre total as settled. Electronic visas · Beijing fees

Thailand. The Colombian amounts use the Royal Thai Embassy in Lima, Peru’s published single-entry tariff: US$40 for tourism and US$80 for business. This embassy handles online applications from Colombian residents. The Lima tariff page was last updated on 11 February 2025; London’s £60 single-entry Non-Immigrant tariff page was last updated on 1 September 2022. The dagger (†) identifies these published tariffs: their current payable amounts have not been independently confirmed through an embassy reply or checkout. September 2026 exemption changes do not, by themselves, establish a change to these fees. British and Indian tourism exemptions are distinguished from the paid Non-Immigrant B route. India’s business cell prices that visa route; New Delhi’s general page also retains broader short-business wording, while its September announcement specifies tourism. It is not a finding that every Indian meeting visitor must pay. Chinese qualifying visits use the bilateral exemption. Regional applications · Lima fees

Cambodia. The published electronic-visa fees are US$30 for tourism (T) and US$35 for ordinary visits (E). Cambodia’s government news agency reports that these replaced US$36 and US$42 in January 2025; the older totals are not added back as processing charges without current official evidence. Both categories have an initial one-month stay and a published three-business-day processing indication. The payment screen was not accessible during checking, so the study reports published fees rather than a tested checkout total. The Chinese exemption trial ran from 15 June to 15 October 2026 and is not applied to this November comparison. Official electronic-visa portal · Government fee-reduction report

Mainland China. The British exemption covers qualifying visits of up to 30 days under the policy extending through 31 December 2026. Other figures follow the relevant application location. Nairobi lists a 3,000 Kenyan-shilling visa fee and a 4,958-shilling service fee labelled tax-inclusive. Its generic formula also refers to additional tax: the displayed subtotal follows the inclusive table heading, and a plus sign flags the conflicting wording. Hong Kong and Macao have separate rules. British exemption · Nairobi fees · Colombia fee chart · India fees

Processing times and principal documents

Times are published indications, not guarantees. Appointment queues, online pre-review, requests for further documents and passport return can add time. Where no nationality-specific time has been verified, the record says so rather than applying another embassy’s service standard.

Destination	Processing indication	Tourism evidence	Additional business evidence
USA	B visas: no uniform end-to-end time. Published next B1/B2 appointments: Bogotá 6.5 months, Nairobi 2 months, New Delhi 11 months, Beijing 2 months (State Department table dated 21 October). This is interview waiting time, not total visa processing. Apply for ESTA at least 72 hours ahead.	Passport, Form DS-160 (Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application) confirmation, fee receipt where required and photograph; evidence of trip purpose, funds and return ties can be requested.	Meeting purpose and employer/host evidence as requested; no local employment. EVUS where applicable.
Colombia	Up to 30 calendar days for a complete paid application; external checks can extend this. Exempt travellers have no visa application wait.	Passport/photo, explanation of trip, return reservation, applicable health insurance; tourism requirements include six months of bank statements.	Purpose/invitation and financial responsibility evidence. Self-sponsored cases can require six months of statements; corporate sponsorship has company documents and three months of corporate statements, plus applicant income evidence.
UK	Usually three weeks after identity verification and documents, plus appointment/preparation time.	Passport, credible travel/funding plans, evidence of financial circumstances and ties; translations where needed.	Employer or host confirmation explaining meetings and who pays.
Schengen	Normally 15 calendar days; up to 45 when further examination is needed, plus appointment wait.	Passport, form, photo, travel medical insurance, accommodation, financial means and return-intention evidence; fingerprints unless exempt.	Invitation, meeting purpose and funding/employment evidence under the destination consulate's checklist.
India	Eligible eVisa applicants must apply at least four days before arrival: this is a minimum lead time, not a guaranteed decision period. Beijing publishes seven working days for a regular tourist visa; a matching Chinese business turnaround was not independently confirmed.	eVisa passport scan and photo, travel information; Chinese regular applicants also supply ID, itinerary, return flight and financial evidence under Beijing's checklist.	Business card/business details and Indian host invitation or business evidence as requested by the chosen route.
Thailand	Royal Thai Embassy in Lima: up to 15 working days, plus five after further documents. Nairobi: at least 15 working days; recommends applying four to six weeks ahead. Other missions' queues differ.	Passport, photo, residence/location evidence, flights, accommodation and funds; Lima gives three months of bank statements as an example of financial evidence.	Sending employer's letter, Thai host invitation and corporate/purpose documents for Non-Immigrant B business visas. Treaty-exempt visitors still need evidence that their activities qualify.
Cambodia	Published eVisa processing: three business days.	Passport with over six months remaining, digital photo, payment method; trip/accommodation details as requested, plus separate e-Arrival form.	Ordinary E category and supporting business/host material where requested. A fully uniform nationality-specific E-class checklist was not verified.
China	Indian direct procedure: seven working days from the day after passport submission, with online pre-review beforehand. A matching current processing standard for Bogotá/Nairobi was not independently confirmed. British exempt visitors have no visa application wait.	Passport, application/photo and itinerary/accommodation or invitation under the handling mission's checklist; extra financial evidence may apply.	Business invitation, purpose, dates and inviting company's details. Follow the actual mission's current list.

Currency basis and limitations

Conversions use the European Central Bank reference rates republished by the Austrian National Bank for 9 November 2026: one euro equals 1.1193 US dollars, 0.83430 pounds sterling, 105.1435 Indian rupees and 7.4689 Chinese yuan. The Colombian reference rate is 3,237.83 pesos per US dollar for 9 November. Kenyan figures use the Central Bank of Kenya rate of 129.96 shillings per US dollar posted for 9 November 2026. Conversions are rounded to the nearest US cent and are not consular or card-payment quotations.

The table covers 40 destination–nationality pairs for two purposes, including four home-country entries. It compares published fees for specified routes with differing validity and conditions. A plus sign identifies excluded local charges or an unsettled additional charge; it does not indicate a verified all-inclusive total. UK local payment rates, the India-in-China centre advisory and Nairobi tax wording are explained above. Schengen service charges depend on the destination and centre. Some mission-specific processing times could not be independently confirmed and are identified as such. These limitations form part of the study.

Official sources

Official sources are linked beside the relevant claims and destination notes.

For the tables: US fees, Colombian requirements, UK visitor guidance, Schengen requirements, Indian electronic visas, Thai Embassy in Lima: regional applications and fees, Cambodian electronic visas, and Chinese visa-waiver guidance.

Exchange-rate sources: Austrian National Bank, Central Bank of Kenya and Colombian central bank.

Disclaimer

Coromandel SAS has taken reasonable care to research and verify this study using official government, immigration and diplomatic sources wherever available. It is published for research and comparison purposes, not as a visa application guide or a guarantee of current fees, requirements or processing times. Governments may change these at any time, with or without notice. Travellers should consult the relevant official government or embassy website and contact the appropriate diplomatic mission before making arrangements.

Read the study on coromandel.co →

Source: Coromandel SAS, https://www.coromandel.co/en/research/travel-visa-costs-2026/. Free to use with credit to Coromandel SAS and a link to the study.

Unclaimed VAT on Business Travel: How Much Could Companies Recover?

Coromandel SAS — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 22:00:00 GMT

First published by Coromandel SAS at https://www.coromandel.co/en/research/unclaimed-vat-2024/

Businesses send staff abroad, pay VAT on hotels, conference fees and taxis, and often never ask for it back. How much unclaimed VAT is there? Nobody measures it directly, so this study builds the answer from official statistics: how much foreign business travellers spent in Europe, how much VAT that spending carried, and how much of it the rules allow a foreign business to recover.

Key Findings

Foreign businesses could have recovered about €2.4 billion (US$2.6 billion) of VAT on business travel in Europe in 2024. That is VAT on valid invoices, after the expenses countries refuse to refund, reciprocity rules and paperwork problems.
How much of it went unclaimed depends on how much businesses claim, which nobody measures. If EU businesses claimed half of what they could recover in other EU countries, and businesses claimed about a third everywhere else, about €1.3 billion (US$1.5 billion) was left unclaimed.
Under other reasonable assumptions, the unclaimed amount ranges from about €0.6 billion to €2.6 billion.
€1.1 billion (US$1.2 billion) of the refundable VAT has to be claimed country by country, under each country’s own rules: by businesses from outside the EU, and by EU businesses claiming in the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland or Iceland. If businesses claimed about a third of it, about €0.7 billion (US$0.8 billion) was left unclaimed. The rest is claimed by EU businesses in other EU countries, through their own tax authority’s online portal.
Germany and the UK hold 44% of the refundable VAT (€525 million and €522 million), followed by Italy (€261 million).
US businesses could have recovered about US$240 million of VAT on their business travel in Europe. More than three quarters of it (77%) is in the UK and Germany.
On the same €1,000 of business-trip spending, a foreign business can recover about €139 of VAT in the UK but only €25 in Ireland, where hotels and meals are excluded.
Of the €6.5 billion of VAT that foreign business travellers paid, almost two thirds could not be refunded at all, because of country rules, reciprocity, who was travelling and missing paperwork.

About €2.4 billion of VAT on 2024 business travel in Europe was refundable to foreign businesses. At the reference claim rates, about €1.3 billion was left unclaimed.

How Much VAT Could Foreign Businesses Recover?

The study follows the money from what foreign business travellers spent to what their companies could claim back.

From VAT paid to VAT left unclaimed, 2024. Each grey bar is VAT removed at that step, including the share assumed to be claimed already; the unclaimed amount is the reference case. Free to use with credit and a link to this page.

Step	EUR Billion, 2024	What Happens at This Step
Spending inside European countries by foreign business travellers	58.54	Official balance-of-payments statistics
VAT inside that spending	6.48	Country VAT rates for hotels, meals, transport and other costs
Minus expenses countries don't refund	−1.54	For example meals, entertainment, staff transport in some countries
Minus travellers or businesses not entitled	−1.53	Personal purchases, public-sector travellers, firms without full VAT deduction rights
Minus reciprocity	−0.40	Countries that refuse claimants from certain countries
Minus invoice problems and small claims	−0.65	Invoices not in the company's name, missing VAT numbers, claims below minimums
Refundable	2.36	Valid VAT a foreign business could claim

What Foreign Business Travellers Spent

National statistics offices record what business visitors from abroad spend inside their country, in the balance of payments. It covers hotels, meals, local transport and other purchases during a trip, and excludes international fares. In 2024, business visitors spent €49.2 billion inside EU countries, of which €29.2 billion came from other EU countries and €3.8 billion from the United States. Business visitors to the UK spent £5.9 billion (€6.9 billion). With Norway, Switzerland and Iceland, the total is €58.5 billion.

The VAT Inside the Spending

Hotels take the largest share of what business travellers spend at their destination, and they are usually taxed at a reduced rate: 7% in Germany, 10% in France, Italy and Spain, 20% in the UK. VAT is added to the net price, so at a 20% rate it is one sixth of the bill, not a fifth. Across Europe, VAT made up about €6.5 billion, or 11% of the spending.

What Can’t Be Refunded

Most of that VAT could not be claimed back by a foreign business:

Country rules exclude some expenses. Norway refuses VAT on food and drink, France on ordinary passenger transport for staff, and many countries on entertainment.
Not every traveller or business qualifies. Personal purchases on a business trip, public-sector travellers and businesses in VAT-exempt sectors such as banking and insurance can’t reclaim it.
Reciprocity. Some countries refund only businesses from countries that would refund theirs. Germany’s official list includes the United States but not Colombia. Spain applies reciprocity too, but waives it for qualifying trade-fair and congress costs. In the reference case, reciprocity blocks 23% of the VAT that US businesses could otherwise recover, and 29% for businesses from other countries outside the EU.
Paperwork. An invoice made out to the employee, a card slip instead of a VAT invoice or a claim below the country’s minimum can’t be used.

A Colombian company can't recover the VAT on hotel stays anywhere in Germany: Germany refunds only businesses from countries on its reciprocity list, and Colombia isn't on it.

How Much Goes Unclaimed

Tax authorities publish how much they refund, but not how much businesses could have claimed. So the unclaimed amount depends on one number nobody measures: the share of refundable VAT that businesses actually claim.

Unclaimed VAT for each share claimed, 2024. Free to use with credit and a link to this page.

If Businesses Claim…	Unclaimed VAT, 2024
25% of what they could	€1.8 billion
50% of what they could	€1.2 billion
75% of what they could	€0.6 billion
Reference case: 50% for EU businesses in the EU, 35% for the rest	€1.3 billion

The reference case assumes EU businesses claim more, because they file through their own tax authority’s online portal. Businesses from outside the EU, or claiming in the UK, Norway or Switzerland, face a different process, deadline and set of documents in each country.

Where the Refundable VAT Is

Germany and the UK hold more than 40% of the refundable VAT. Both attract large numbers of foreign business travellers and refund hotel VAT. For businesses from outside the EU, the UK matters most: it holds 37% of the VAT they can recover.

Refundable VAT by country, 2024. Free to use with credit and a link to this page.

Our country guides explain what is refundable in each: United Kingdom, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Norway.

What €1,000 of Trip Spending Can Recover

The same €1,000 spent on a business trip carries different amounts of VAT in each country, and the rules let a foreign business recover very different shares of it.

Country	VAT Paid	VAT a Foreign Business Can Recover	Main Reason for the Difference
United Kingdom	€160	€139	Almost everything is refundable except business entertainment
Norway	€148	€81	No refund on food and drink
France	€101	€39	No refund on staff hotels or ordinary passenger transport
Ireland	€118	€25	No refund on hotels and meals, except for qualifying conferences

On €1,000 of business-trip spending, 2024 rules. Same typical mix of hotel, meals, local transport and other costs in each country; for a business entitled to claim there, with proper invoices.

Who the Refundable VAT Belongs To

Businesses from other EU countries account for almost two thirds: €1.52 billion. They are the largest group of foreign business travellers in Europe. For claims in other EU countries, they use their own tax authority’s online portal, by 30 September of the following year. Claims outside the EU follow the destination’s national scheme.

US businesses could have recovered about €220 million (US$240 million). In the reference case, about US$160 million of it was left unclaimed. See foreign VAT recovery for US businesses.

Other businesses from outside the EU could have recovered €620 million. For businesses from countries such as Colombia, reciprocity decides where a claim is possible at all. See VAT recovery for Colombian companies.

Businesses from outside the EU, including US businesses, claim from each country separately, under that country’s rules, usually by 30 June of the following year. Just two countries, the UK and Germany, hold 53% of the VAT they can recover, so those are the places to start.

For US businesses, more than three quarters (77%) of the recoverable VAT is in the UK and Germany, and more than half (54%) in the UK alone.

Refundable VAT by home of the business, 2024. Free to use with credit and a link to this page.

How much each group left unclaimed in the reference case:

Businesses From	VAT Refundable, 2024	Left Unclaimed (Reference Case)
EU countries	€1.52 billion	€0.80 billion
The United States	€0.22 billion (US$240 million)	€0.14 billion (US$160 million)
Other countries outside the EU	€0.62 billion	€0.40 billion
Total	€2.36 billion	€1.34 billion

Why Companies Leave VAT Unclaimed

Nobody owns it. Travel managers book the trip, finance pays the expense report, and nobody is responsible for the foreign VAT.
Invoices in the wrong name. Hotel bills hold almost half (47%) of the VAT a foreign business can recover, yet a hotel bill made out to the employee, or a card slip instead of a VAT invoice, can’t be used.
Different rules in every country. Forms, languages, excluded expenses and minimum amounts all differ.
Fixed deadlines. Businesses from outside the EU usually have until 30 June of the following year; EU businesses until 30 September. Once a deadline passes, the money is gone.
The assumption that it can’t be done. Many companies outside Europe don’t know that their business qualifies.

Hotel bills hold almost half (47%) of the VAT a foreign business can recover. A hotel bill in the employee's name loses that VAT.

What to Do Before the Next Deadline

Find out what you paid. Pull last year’s foreign hotel, conference and event costs by country. Our VAT refund calculator gives a quick estimate.
Check the invoices, starting with hotel bills. Each should be in the company’s name and show the supplier’s VAT number.
Check which countries refund your business. Reciprocity and excluded expenses decide what is worth claiming.
File before the deadline, or ask a specialist to do it. The UK’s claim year runs from July to June, with claims due by 31 December, so it is often still open after the EU deadlines have passed. Coromandel SAS offers a free VAT recovery assessment and works on a contingency fee: no refund, no fee.

Methodology and Sources

What is measured and what is assumed. The spending base comes from official statistics. The VAT rates and refund rules come from national tax authorities and the European Commission. Who qualifies, how many invoices fail and, above all, how much businesses already claim are assumptions, because no public data measures them. The figures are therefore a model with a stated reference case, not a count. The low and high figures (€0.6 and €2.6 billion unclaimed) change these assumptions together; they are illustrations, not a statistical range.

Scope. VAT on business travel paid by businesses in a European country where they are not established: the EU-27, the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland, 2024 data. UK spending covers Great Britain: Northern Ireland isn’t in the ONS source used. Not included: other refunding countries such as Japan and South Korea, and non-travel expenses such as supplier invoices.

The spending base. The balance of payments measures business travel within the EU from both ends, and the two figures are close: destination countries recorded €29.2 billion received from EU business visitors, and home countries recorded €33.4 billion spent by their business travellers. Eurostat’s traveller survey shows much less (€13.1 billion for overnight trips), probably because travellers don’t report costs their employer pays. The study uses the balance of payments.

Spending by EU business travellers in other EU countries, 2024, by source. Free to use with credit and a link to this page.

Sources.

Spending: Eurostat, international trade in services by partner (travel, business, excluding seasonal and border workers), 2024. Spain, France, Denmark and Portugal don’t publish this split; their share of the EU total is allocated. United Kingdom: ONS, Travel Trends 2024 (business visits to Great Britain). Norway and Switzerland are estimated from partial data: Norway from its total travel receipts and the EU’s business share, Switzerland from its business travel receipts from outside the EU, scaled up in the same proportion as the EU’s. Both use the EU’s mix of origin countries.
Spending mix: Eurostat, tourism expenditure by purpose and category, business trips abroad, 2024.
Comparison of spending sources: the same balance-of-payments table (receipts and payments), and Eurostat’s traveller surveys for overnight trips and same-day visits, 2024.
VAT rates in force in 2024: the European Commission’s Taxes in Europe Database for EU countries, and national tax authorities for the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and where the database is incomplete.
Refund rules and reciprocity: national tax authorities, including Norway, Spain, Germany and the UK, the OECD’s Consumption Tax Trends 2024 (refund rules for foreign businesses, country by country) and the European Commission’s study of VAT refunds. Some origin-specific rules and the spending mix of eligible non-EU countries remain assumptions.
Exchange rates: European Central Bank, 2024 annual averages (US$1.0824 and £0.84662 per euro).

Review. An independent reviewer audited an earlier version of this study and checked the 2024 reciprocity rules of all 31 countries. This version addresses the review’s findings; the remaining limitations are those listed above.

Use. The figures and charts are free to use with credit to Coromandel SAS and a link to this page. Full-size charts: refundable VAT, unclaimed by claim rate, by country, by home of the business, spending sources.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much VAT on business travel goes unclaimed each year?

No official statistic measures it. Coromandel SAS's model of 2024 data finds that foreign businesses could have recovered about €2.4 billion (US$2.6 billion) of VAT on business travel in Europe. If EU businesses claimed half of what they could recover in other EU countries, and businesses claimed about a third everywhere else, about €1.3 billion (US$1.5 billion) was left unclaimed. Under other reasonable assumptions the unclaimed amount ranges from about €0.6 billion to €2.6 billion.

Why can't anyone measure unclaimed VAT exactly?

Tax authorities publish how much they refund, but not how much businesses could have claimed. The refundable amount can be modelled from official travel and tax data; the share actually claimed has to be assumed. That is why this study shows how the unclaimed amount changes with the claim rate.

Where does the often-quoted US$20–30 billion figure come from?

The US$30 billion figure comes from an estimate published in 2019 and reported at the time by the Irish Examiner. It covered the whole world, and its method was not published. Other figures in circulation, around US$20 billion, also come without a published method. This study covers Europe only and is built from official statistics, with every step shown, so it is not directly comparable with those worldwide figures.

Which expenses on a business trip can a foreign business claim VAT on?

Usually hotels, conference and trade fair fees, venue hire and local transport. Hotels matter most: they hold almost half (47%) of the VAT foreign businesses can recover. Rules differ by country: Norway, for example, refuses VAT on food and drink, and France refuses it on ordinary passenger transport for staff. Invoices must be in the company's name and show the supplier's VAT number.

Can a company from outside Europe claim VAT back on a business trip?

Usually yes, through the refund scheme of the country where the VAT was paid, with original invoices and a certificate of status from its home tax authority. Some countries refund only businesses from countries that would refund theirs (reciprocity). Germany, for example, refunds US businesses but not Colombian ones.

What is the deadline to claim VAT on business travel in the EU?

Businesses established outside the EU usually have until 30 June of the following year. EU businesses claiming from another EU country have until 30 September of the following year, through their own tax authority's portal. For the UK, the claim year runs from 1 July to 30 June, with claims due by 31 December.

Can I use these figures and charts?

Yes. The figures and charts are free to use with credit to Coromandel SAS and a link to this page. Please keep the note that the claimed share is an assumption.

Read the study on coromandel.co →

Source: Coromandel SAS, https://www.coromandel.co/en/research/unclaimed-vat-2024/. Free to use with credit to Coromandel SAS and a link to the study.