Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/38—Payment protocols; Details thereof
  • G06Q20/40—Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
  • G06Q20/401—Transaction verification
  • G06Q20/4014—Identity check for transactions
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/08—Payment architectures
  • G06Q20/20—Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q30/00—Commerce
  • G06Q30/04—Billing or invoicing

Definitions

• This invention relates Io a method and system for processing transactions that qualify for a refund of duly, in a system comprising a plurality of retailers each having a point of sale (POS) system, and a transaction server eontactable by the POS systems * the method comprising the steps of n customer purchasing a good
• the retailer transmitting purchase details from the POS system to the? transaction server, the transaction server storing the purchase details in memory, the customer obtaining a purchase record and completing the purchase record prior to submitting the completed purchase record to an authorised official, the authorised official clearing the completed purchase record if it qualifies for a
• VAT value added tax
• duty rales- may be applied to different items.
• the customer is offered the goods at a price inclusive of the duty.
• certain individuals are entitled to a refund of the duty paid.
• tourists from the United States are entitled to a refund of duty paid on certain goods purchased during a visit to Ireland.
• the tourist is required to fill out various forms and have them approved by customs or
• the manual method requires a retailer selling goods to fill 35 out, by hand, an appropriate tax reclamation form when a purchase is made.
• the retailer gives the partially filled out tax reclamation form to the customer and the customer then fills out their details, including name and address, passport number, flight details and any otrr ⁇ r information required on the duty reclamation form and presents the completed form to a customs official ⁇ it tho airport prior to their departure.
• the customs official will stamp th ⁇ form if the customer is entitled to a refund of duty and the customer then brings the stamped form Io ⁇ r ⁇ operator that provided the form and who also works in partnership with the retailer. The operator then processes the farm and issues the refund if necessary, The refund may be effected by either cheque, cash, or by crediting the customers credit card.
• the refund of duty will in fact be a partial refund of the duty paid by the customer. ⁇ portion of the amount of duty paid will bo retained by the operator as their foe for processing the refund and throughout the specification, when mention is made of a refund of the duty paid, this will be understood to be in most cases a partial refund of the duty,
• the second method of processing transactions that qualify for a refund of duty entails providing the retailer with & point of sale system that is capable of printing out the relevant details of the purchase on a form which must be completed by the customer and presented to customs in the normal manner prior to departure.
• One advantage of the integrated method is that the customer pays by credit card, and therefore the customer is charged the price of the goods, minus the duty at the point of sale.
• the purchase details are transmitted from the POS terminal to a transaction server where the purchase details are stored in memory.
• the customer obtains the duty refund at the time of the purchase and they must provide the completed duty reclamation form to customs for stamping and then subsequently provide the stamped duty reclamation form to the operator in order to avoid their credit card being recharged with the duty amount.
• This allows the operator to avoid having to issue a refund at some Eater date and significant reduces the cost of processing the transaction,
• the third method namely the integrated method non-refund Sn store is similar to the integrated method, T ⁇ r ⁇ retailor is provided with a point of sale system that prints the appropriate tax reclamation form with all the purchase delails and duty information required,
• the retailer provides lhis form to the customer who then completes the farm in lhe normal manner before providing the completed form to a customs officer for clearance and then subsequently to an operator for a refund to bo effected, However, in this instance a refund is not effected in store, but rather lhe refund is made subsequently on request by the customer. This is typically th ⁇ case for integrated systems where a cash payment or cheque is used rather than a credit card.
• each transaction requires paperwork which must be completed by lhe customer prior to submitting the completed forms to customs. This can amount to a significant amount of paperwork that must be completed by the customer prior to their departure. This is quite an onerous task as the paperwork may be in a language olhor than the mother tongue of lhe customer. Furthermore, the same details must bo compiled on each of the forms and therefore a tot of repetition is involved. Valuable holiday time must be spent completing these forms which is highly undesirable.
• a method of processing transactions that qualify for a refund of duty in a system comprising a transaction server and plurality of retailers each having a point of sale (POS) system, the transaction server being contactable by the POS systems, the nadohod comprising the steps of;
• POS point of sale
• the retainer transmitting purchase details from lho POS system to the transaction server;
• the transaction server storing the purchase details in memory
• the authorised official clearing the completed purchase record if it qualifies for a refund oF duty and one of the customer and the authorised official sending (he cleared completed purchase record to a transaction server operator;
• the retailer transmitting both the unique identifier and the purchase details from the POS system to the transaction server for storage in memory;
• the step of the customer obtaining a purchase record further comprises the customer accessing the transaction server and downloading a record of ail purchase details associated with their unique identifier stored In memory. completing the record of ail purchase details containing their unique identifier and thereafter one of the customer and the transaction server submitting that completed record of alt purchase details to the authorised official for clearance.
• the customer may provide the unique Identifier Io the retailer each time the customer makes a purchase.
• the details of the purchase are stored in a transaction server in the normal manner with tho exception of the unique identifier being stored along with the purchase details.
• Tho retailer does not have to either manually or automatically provide a form for tho customer as all the details are stored In the transaction server along with the customer s unique identifier. Therefore, the customer will not have several forms to carry with him over the duration of his holiday, Instead, the customer may access the transaction server either prior to or subsequent to departure and obtain a record of purchases from the transaction server using their unique identifier. This record may then be completed by tho customer with any additional details required before the customer submits the completed record of all purchase details to an authorised official for clearance.
• That authorised official may be a customs officer or a notary public or other such authorised individual in their h ⁇ mo country and the cleared completed record may subsequently be sent by the customer or the authorised official to the transaction server operator for reconciliation of the cleared completed purchase record with tho purchase details stored in the transaction server memory and a refund may be issued if appropriate.
• the customer will only have to fil! out a single set of details, rather than having to duplicate lheir efforts on numerous different forms.
• the amount of paperwork required and time and effort expended by all parties will be significantly reduced, in fact, the use of a paper form is not absolutely necessary and the record could be downloaded in electronic format, completed electronically and submitted to the authorised official electronically without printing a form.
• the electronic version could then be passed electronically to the transaction server for reconciliation and issuance of a refund if appropriate.
• the transaction server operator reconciling the purchase details stored in memory can, and in many instances will, be automated whereby the transaction server will process tho transactions without any need for human intervention. This further reduces the overheads of processing the transaction.
• the step of issuing the customer with a unique identifier comprises the initial step of the customer registering with the transaction server operator by providing the transaction server operator with customer details and the transaction server operator thereafter associates- the customer details with the unique identifier which is provided to the customer,
• a method of processing transactions in which the customer registers with the transaction server during the initial purchase of a good.
• the customer may at that point register with the transaction server by providing customer details to the transaction server via the POS system that will a I tow subsequent refunding or recharging of the customer and for the transaction server to identify the customer on all subsequent transactions,
• a method or processing transactions in which the customer registers with the transaction server prior to making the initial purchase of a good.
• the customer may pre-register with the transaction server and have their unique identifier prior to arrival in a country. This may help speed up making their first purchase and obviate any delays in the retail outlet,
• a method of processing transactions in which the customer dolatls provided to the transaction server are the customer's credit card detaiis, This is scson as particularly useful as by providing ttie credit card details, the customer may be refunded or recharged for any duty owed to their credit card in a simple oncf efficient manner. This is mono cost effective and reliable than having to post cheques, By providing the customer's credit card details, the customer may make purchases with cash or other form of payment and still be provided with a partial duty refund at the point of sate as the transaction server wil! have the customer's credit card dotaiis if it is necessary to recharge the customer subsequently for those other purchases if the customer should fail to obtain clearance in due course.
• a method of processing transactions in which the customer s credit card details are stored in transaction server memory.
• the customer ' s credit card detaiis may be encrypted prior to storage in the transaction server memory,
• a method of processing transactions in which the step of issuing a refund to the customer further comprises crediting the refund Io the credit card of the customer.
• a method of processing transactions in which the step of the customer accessing the transaction server and downloading the record of all purchase details containing their unique identifier further comprises entering the unique identifier in a separate device having access to the transaction server.
• the device will have access to the transaction server through a dedicated communication channel.
• the device will have access to the transaction server through a web interface, In this way, the separate device may be located remote from the transaction server and accessed over the web in order to download the purchase details associated with that customer. It is envisaged that the separate devices may be a personal computer, or a dedicated kiosk which may be located in the terminal of on airport adjacent to the customs desk.
• the customer may insert their unique identifier, access their record of purchase details In the airport and subsequently provide that record to the customs officials. Again, this obviates the need for the customer to have numerous forms for the duration of their stay and also obviates the need for the retailer to complete the form on their behalf either in-store in an integrated or manual fashion.
• a method of processing transactions in which the device has a printer connected thereto and the method further comprises the step of priming the record of all purchase details containing their unique identifier.
• the record of all purchase details containing their unique identifier is printed on a single form.
• the customer may thereafter complete the printed record ⁇ f all purchase details containing their unique identifier by providing any farther information relating to the customer deemed necessary.
• the customer may access a list of all purcha&e details which may include the amount of the portion of duty owed to the customer, or the amount of duly already refunded and these may all be printed on a single fonn which may be completed by the customer with their flight details, passport details, or any other information required, such as refund address.
• the customer may then present the single form to the customs officials for stamping which significantly reduces the time taken to process the applications and also reduces the amount of papenv ⁇ rk ihe customs officials must handle each and every day,
• a further embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of processing transactions in which the device has means to allow the customer insert information relating to that customer in the record of all purchases containing their unique identifier in order to complete the purchase record.
• the customer may complete the record of all purchases electronically *
• the form may then be printed out if desired, or may be sent electronically to customs officers for approval further reducing the amount of paperwork required. It is envisaged that in certain circumstances the customer details provided to the transaction server may be sufficient to populate various fields on behalf of the customer themselves, particularly if the customer has ⁇ re ⁇ registered with the transaction server. This will greatly speed up the time taken for the customer to process the transactions,
• the unique identifier Is stored in a memory storage device.
• the memory storage device may he a magnetic swipe card, a chip and pin card, storage device contained in a mobile phone, MP3 player, or other such device, or other memory stick or the like, In the instance of a magnetic swipe card or the chip and pin card, the customer simply must provide the card to the retailer en making a purchase.
• the unique identifier may be stored in the fonn of a numbered bar coded, magnetic stripe encoded unique identifier. Similarly, the unique identifier may be provided in a numbered, bar coded printed downloaded document.
• the unique identifier may be formed using the visitors passport, national ID or drivers licence or by using a combination of the nationality of the customer and a document number.
• the unique identifier may be stored on a numbered bar coded smart card or conlactless smart ⁇ ard with encoded unique identifier.
• the visitor's credit card itself could also be used to provide ihe unique identifier.
• the unique: identifier could be a biometfic detail oF the customer such as a fingerprint or retina scan.
• the step of the customer providing the r ⁇ taifer with the unique identifier comprises introducing the memory storage device to a memory storage device reader h the POS term ins).
• This wilt ensure that the customer doss not have to remember a unique identifier, but instead the customer may provide the retailer wilh their memory storage device such as a magnetic swipe card, or chip and pin card and the retailer may swipe or insert the memory storage device into a memory storage device reader and the unique identifier will be taken effectronicatly from (he memory storage device without any further interaction from the customer.
• pin numbers or the like may be provided for additional security as will be understood in iho art.
• a suitable device reader as part of the point of sale system in order to capture the unique identifier, such as a fingerprint reader or retina scan reader,
• the transaction server recharges the credit card of the customer with the value of duty refunded to date.
• the duty may be charged back to the bank account of the customer.
• a method of processing transactors in which the retailer provides the customer with an advance refund of a portion of duty orvsile on receipt of a unique identifier by a customer regardless of the mode of payment.
• a method of processing transactions in which the customer details provided to the transaction server arc the customers billing address ctetsitSs These details may be used for posting a cheque refund to the customer in the case of deferred refunds and further the address may be used for credit card or other validation if need be*
• a system for processing transactions that qualify for a refund of duly comprising a transaction server and a plurality of retailers selling goods to customers, each of the retailors having a point of sale (POS) system, the transaction server being accessible by each of the POS systems, the transaction server having memory for the storage of purchase details sent by the POS terminals on a customer making a purchase, characterised in that:
• system further comprises means to provide each customer with a unique identifier
• the POS systems each having means to receive the unique identifier provided by the customer to the retailer on the customer making a purchase and means to send that unique identifier to the transaction sewer along with the purchase details, the customer unique identifier being stored in transaction server memory together with the purchase details;
• the transaction server further comprising a customer interface whereby customers may subsequently access the purchase details of each of their purchases associated with their unique identifier stored in transaction server memory through the customer interface and download a record of those purchases for clearance of the record by an authorised official.
• the system furttrer comprises a remote device providing access to the customer interface.
• the remote device may b ⁇ a persona! computing device such as a PC, laptop, PDA 1 Blackberry,, mobile phone or other such personal computing device. It is envisaged that the remote device may be a dedicated kiosk.
• the remote device may have access to the customer interface over a web interface, Altemaitveiy, the remote device may have access to the customer interface over a dedicated communication channel such as a stand-alone network
• a system for processing transactions in which the remote device is provided w ⁇ h a printer for printing a record of all purchase details associated with their unique identifier stored m transaction server memory.
• a system for processing transactions in which the unique identifier is stored on a memory storage device.
• the memory storage device may be a magnetic swipe card, chip and pin card, or other such memory storage device,
• POS systems means to receive the unique identifier further comprises a memory storage device reader
• a system for processing transactions tn which the transaction server further comprises means to record the credit card details of each customer and associate those credit, card details with the unique identifier for that customer.
• a system for processing transactions in which the sysiem further comprises a reconciliation module that has moans to periodically review each of the purchase details stored tn transaction server memory that have not been reconciled with a cleared completed purchase record after a predetermined period of time and for those purchase details that have not been reconciled, charge the customer with any unpaid duly if appropriate. Effectively, the customer will be charged the total duty that was due at the point of sale system *
• a system for processing transactions in which one or more of the transaction server, the transaction server memory and the POS systems are located remotely from the other of the transaction server, the transaction server memory and the POS systems.
• Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a system in which the method of processing transactions that qualify for a refund of duty is cawed out;
• Rej, 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a record of all purchase details used In accordance with the invention.
• Figure 3 is a ⁇ iagr ⁇ mmattc representation of an alternative record of all purchase details used En accordance with the invention.
• Figures 4 (a), 4(b) and -1(c) are a flow diagram of the method of processing transactions according to the invention.
• a system comprising a pluraiily of retailers 3 each having a point of safe (POS) system 5, and a transaction server 7 co ⁇ tactabfe by each of the POS systems 5.
• the transaction server 7 has an accessible memory 9.
• the system 1 further comprises a personal computing device provided by way of a PC 11 having a printer 13 connected thereto and a kiosk 15 having a screen 17, a keyboard 19, a card reader 21 and a printer 23.
• the POS systems 5, PC 11 and kiosk 15 access the transaction server 7 through a communication network 25, in this case the World Wide Web.
• a customer purchases one or mo ft) goods from ⁇ retailer 3.
• the customer On purchasing the fjoods, the customer provides the retailer 3 with a unique identifier particular to that customer and the nelater 3 transmits the purchase details along with the unique identifier from IhQ POS system 5 to the transaction server 7.
• the unique identifier and purchase details art! stored in transaction sen/or memory 9, The customer may make a number of such purchases over the duration of thesr stay.
• the customer obtains a purchase record by accessing the transaction server 7 and downloading a record of all purchase delmis containing lhoir unique identifier stored in memory 3> The customer may do this by either using the PC 1 1 or the kiosk 15.
• the customer completes the record of ail purchase details containing their unique identifier and then prims the completed record
• the customer then provides this completed purchase record to an authorised official such as a customs officer where the authorised official has the opportunity to examine the goads purchased along with the completed purchase record and the authorised official may then stamp lhe completed purchase record thereby approving any purchases that qualify for a refund of duty.
• a single record may bo provided to the customs officer on a single form with all the purchase details printed out on lho form ato ⁇ g with the details completed by the customer.
• the kiosk or the personal computer will allow the customer to insert their deiaus. such as night details, passport number or any other required information such as recharging or refund information, Ie. the manner in which duty may be charged or refunded Jo them a$ appropriate, in the form prior to printing out the comparableted form.
• the listed purchases may be printed out and the customer can then subsequently complete the form before handing it to customs. Either way, the customer only has to provide one form with their details inserted therein.
• the customer may pr ⁇ -regislor with the transaction server operator prior to arrival in the country whom by they will be typically sent a unique identifier if there is sufficient time prior Io their departure, In this way, they can inform the transaction server operator of lhgir recharging delate such as credit card details that may be recharged if any duty items ⁇ r ⁇ refunded at the point of sale without the appropriate documentation being subsequently submitted to customs and relumed to the transaction server operator.
• the customer may be provided wilh a unique identifier when making their first purchase
• the customer attempts to purchase an iloni in the norma! manner using their credit card.
• the retailer 3 uses the point of saie system 5 to send the customer ' s credit card details to the transaction server operator and the transaction server operator provides a unique identifier to that customer associated with the credit cartil details.
• the unique identifier may b ⁇ provided on a memory storage device such as a magnetic swipe card or a chip and pin card.
• the r ⁇ ta ⁇ er 3 who is provided with a number of pre-programmed memory storage devices each with a unique identifier associated therewith, provides the customer wilh the memory storage device and swipes both Ih e credit card and the memory storage device in the point ⁇ f sale system so that the transaction server may associate those credit card details with the unique identifier in the transaction server memory for B ⁇ Y subsequent transactions carried out using that unique identifier Any subsequent transaction moy be made using either cash or credit card as long as the unique identifier is provided to the retailor.
• the retailer may then charge the customer the amount less the duly (or more specifically, portion of duty) regardless of the mode of payment, as they are safe in lhe knowledge that if a unique identifier is present then there is a mechanism whereby the customer may be recharged io a credit card that has been previously provided by the customer if the appropriate documentation is not submitted through customs to the transaction server operator.
• the purchase record may be popuEaled with their details ir> order to complete the form automatically when they are generating the purchase record therefore greatly facilitating the process for them.
• a kiosk 15 or PC 11 may bs provided with means to insert the information eSectronJcaSiy,
• the transaction server operator has means to recharge the customers with any duty that was previously refunded to thorn, For instance, if the customer had made numerous trans-actions in which the duty was refunded to them at the point of sale, but did not subsequently obtain clearance for the purchases through customs or through ⁇ n authorised individual, the duty must be recharged to the customers credit card which was provided in the initial transaction during pre-regfstratfon or prior to the customers arrival in the country.
• the transac-tio ⁇ server has means to search all of the purchase details stored in transaction server memory and determine those purchase details that have not been reconciled with a eieared complete purchase record after a predetermined period of lime. Those transactions where clearance has not been obtained are then recharged to the credit card of the customer. Of course. if the customer subsequently provides a cleared complete purchase record, the customer's credit card may be reimbursed, or they may bo reimbursed by cheque or other method. It is envisaged that the transaction server will be provided with a web interface and that the kiosk. PC or other computing device accesses the transaction server through tho web interface.
• This web interface may of course be provided with an adequate level of security so that the information may be secure and accessible by authorised individuals if desired.
• one or more of the POS systems may further comprise a memory device writer, In this way, Sransactton, and more specifically purchase deiasls. may bo stored on the memory device which also holds the unique identifier of the customer, In this way, in order to provide the purchase record to the authorised individual the customer simply has to access the purchase details stored on the memory device and provide those details to the authorised individual The purchase details stored in memory may be provided to the authorised Individual In electronic formal or alternatively, the customer may print out the purchase details and provide the purchase details on a printed form if desired.
• the record will be given in an electronic format to the authorised official who may En turn a ⁇ lh ⁇ nse the transactions if appropriate and forward th ⁇ authorised record onwards in an electronic fonnat to the transaction server operator for clearance of the transactions and issuance of any refund if appropriate.
• a diagrammatic representation of a record ⁇ f alt purchase details form 29 for a customer includes a date/lime field 31. a purchased item field 33, a duty, in this case VAT, rate for that purchase item field 35, a retailer field 37. a pnce including VAT field 39» a price excluding VAT field 41, a VAT value field 43 and a VAT charged field 45.
• the fields 31 , 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43 and 45 detail the various purchases made by a customer over the course of a holiday *
• the customer purchased some crystal glassware from Waterford Crystal on June 26, 2006 at 2.*10 pm.
• the VAT rate duo on this purchase was 21% and the purchase price was €300.00.
• the price excluding VAT was €247.93 and the VAT amount charged equalled €52,07. T he VAT was charged on that purchase.
• Additional fields such as a tola I VAT field 47, a VAT refunded to dale fioEd 49 and a VAT charged to date field 51 may be provided,
• fields for completion by the customer subsequently or for automatic completion using i ⁇ farmaii ⁇ previously submitted by the customer, or for insertion into the fields prior to or after printing are provided inducting o customer name field S3, a customer address field 55, a customer credit card details field 57, a passport number field 59, a nationality field 81 and a flight details Held 63 including arrival date and time, flight number, departure dote and time and departure flight number are provided,
• this form 29 may be provided to the customs officer or other authorised official who may stamp the form, or approve it in a particular manner pnor to the form being sent by either the customer, the customs officer or authorised official to the transaction server operator who then effects a refund if necessary,
• the customs officer or other authorised official who may stamp the form, or approve it in a particular manner pnor to the form being sent by either the customer, the customs officer or authorised official to the transaction server operator who then effects a refund if necessary.
• several of the transactions were conducted without a portion of the VAT being charged. This may have been possible by the transaction betng carried out in a particular manner and the customer was simply not charged for the VAT at the point of purchase. Therefore only the remaining VAT is due, in this case €143.34.
• the transaction server operator marks the purchase details in transaction server memory as cleared and issues a refund of €143.34 to the customer by cheque, credst transfer or preferably by issuing a refund to their credit Card directly, Other ways of refunding the customer such as by providing mobile phono credit or store credit may be provided as well. It wifl be understood that in the circumstance where ft is essential to provide credit card details in order to receive a unique identifier, il is not necessary for any of the purchases to have been charged with VAT once the customer could provide a unique identifier to the reta ⁇ r as there is a recharging mechanism in place rf the customer fails to obtain clearance.
• VAT value added tax
• VATJ has been used as a ⁇ example only of the duty that is typSaslly charged and it will be understood that the invention is not limited sofely to VAT applications but may be used with oiher forms of taxation and duty olher than VAT,
• the record 71 has a customers details section 73 wilh a plurality of fields for entry of information relating So the customer including a first name field, a surname field, an address field, a street field, a city field, a state field, a country field, an arrival dale field, a departure date field, a flight number field and a passport number field
• Them are further provided a plurality of fields relating to purchases made by the customer including a store/tteni fieid.
• a number of purchase details 75(a), 75(b), 75 ⁇ c), 75 ⁇ d) and 75 ⁇ e) of various purchases made by the customer are shown and a total field 77 is further provided with a summary of all the purchases.
• a total VAT field 79, a VAT refund advanced field 81 and a VAT refund deferred field 83 are provided.
• There ts further provided a section 65 for a customer's Signature and a section for a customs verification stamp 87 *
• the partial refund issued to the customer during an advanced transaction represents the duty to be refunded minus a processing fee recouped by the Tax Refund operator, It can be seen that in the transaction carried out on 12/1 1/06 in Mack knitwear, where the customer purchased a p ⁇ io shirt for €27.00. the total purchase price inclusive of VAT for that good is normally €30,25 with VAT at 21% amounting to €5.25. The total price excluding VAT is therefore €25,00, However, the customer is charged a €2,00 processing fee (£27.00 m total for the goods excluding VAT but including the processing fee ⁇ by the Ta* Refund operator which is taken from the VAT amount.
• the customer receives a refund of €3,25 on the transaction and they wilt not be recharged the VAT amount owed as long as they comply with ail the necessary requirements in order to have the refunds authorised.
• the transaction in Aran Sweaters for knitwear costing €153,45 represented a cost of €150,00 ex VAT purchase price plus a €9,45 processing fee for the Tax Refund operator. The customer therefore received an advanced VAT refund at the point of sale of €22.05,
• tho Total VAT amount €74.20 minus the sum of the advanced refunds and the deferred refunds ( €25.30 and €26-21 respectively) €51 ,51 , equals the commission or processing fee charged for all the transactions, whether deferred or advanced, by the Tax Refund operators, in this case €22.69.
• the record of purchases 71 may be printed and then completed or c ⁇ mpt ⁇ ted eleclronicalfy and provided to the customs officers or other authorised individual who will provide a suitable stamp,, seal, signature or other marking in section 87 prior Io the competed form being submitted to the transaction server operator who wttl issue the refund if appropriate.
• an individual may have access to a unique Identifier without having been registered with the system, in this way. Details relating to one or more purchases made by the individual may be stored with the unique identifier without the system having knowledge relating Is the owner of thai, unique identifier or without knowledge of certain information concerning that owner.
• the unique identifier may simply be provided to individuate as they disembark an aircraft from a particular jurisdiction, These unique identifiers could be in the form of an alphanumeric code or the itke printed on the back of a credit card sized carrier or in a format similar io that described elsewhere in this specification.
• the individual may register their details in a number of different ways.
• the individual may register prior to their journey in what is referred to as a pro-visit registration. They may register over lhe internet, by post using a tete-openator or other such method whereby they submit their details in advance to a transaction server operator and they can be provided with thear unique identifier.
• the unique identifier if stored in a memory storage device may bo transmitted to them by post with or without other travel documents or left for collection * The next way in which the customers could register is during their visit.
• the customers may be provided with a unique identifier, either in store or in the airport on their arrival and they can register with the transaction server operator once they have the unique identifier. They may register their details in a similar manner to that described above in that they may register over the telephone, over the
• the customer may bo prompted to insert olher information into the credit card reader or suitable device on an alphanumeric keypad such as their first name, surname, date of birth and the like.
• the registration does not necessarily have to take place on the first purchase and the customer may use other methods of payment and register later or may use Jhe credit card and still decide to register later if additional infomnalion is required and the place in which they are making a purchase is busy,
• the individual may register subsequently at an airport desk or the tike prior to their departure in the airport.
• a dedicated kiosk may he provided to allow lhom to register prior to departure or alternatively they may register in person at a dedicated desk supplied by the transaction server operator by filling out an appropriate form.
• the individual should not be in a position to register with the transaction serve r operator prior to their departure, he may do so post departure by using a number of disparate technologies such as those describee ⁇ above including the internet, telephony or a post based system if desired.
• the mode in which the individual registers is not particularly important, what is important is lhe fact that they can register at various times,
• FIG. 4(a) to 4 ⁇ c) inclusive of the drawings there is shown a flow diagram of the method of processing transactions according to the invention.
• Figure 4(a ⁇ shows the various ways in which an individual may be provided with a unique identifier and also how they may register with the transaction server.
• a visitor is provided with a unique identifier prior to their departure and registers with the transaction server.
• that individual provides the vendor with the unique identifier when they are purchasing the goads and the method proceeds to step 95 where lhe method is carried out.
• step 9T 1 ⁇ visitor is provided with their unique identifier prior to doparturo or on arrival but chooses not to register wilh the transaction server at that lime.
• step 99 is shown in step 91 a visitor is provided with a unique identifier prior to their departure and registers with the transaction server.
• step 93 that individual provides the vendor with the unique identifier when they are purchasing the goads and the method proceeds to step 95 where lhe method is carried out.
• the transaction server (not shown) recognizes that the visitors dclaits for thai unique identifier are not yet registered wilh the transaction server in stop 100 and the method proceeds to step 101 at which point the individual may provide complete, partial or no registration details to tho transaction server by entering information on the POS system (not shown) and the method then proceeds to step 95 where a transaction is carried out.
• an advanced refund or a deferred refund may bo given for the purchase, As described previously, if the individual provides sufficient details including their credit card details, it will be possible to provide them with an advanced refund. Otherwise, a deferred refund wilt be provided.
• step 103 an individual that is not registered and that does not have a unique identifier prior to departure wishes, to make a purchase, they proceed to step 105 in which they wish to make a purchase but do rto have a unique identifier to associate with that purchase.
• step 107 the individual is issued with a unique identifier in store by ih ⁇ vendor, As described previously, the vendor may be pre-supplied with a number of unique identifiers by the transaction server, one of which may be given to the customer. Alternatively, the unique Identifier could be obtained in real time from the transaction server using the POS system.
• step 101 the customer may provide complete, partial or no registration details to the transaction server by entering information on ihe POS system before proceeding to step 95 where a transaction is carried out.
• the information provided in step 101 will determine to a certain extent whether an advanced or a deferred refund will be issued.
• the method may proceed to step 109 in which purchase details of each of the purchases made by the customer are transmitted to the transaction server when those purchases are made, In this way, all of the purchase details are stored on the transaction server memory along with the customer unique identifier.
• the method may atso proceed to step 1 1 1 where purchase details may be stored on a smart device hold by the customer such as a PDA, smartcard, mobile phone or other similar device, preferably the same device thai holds the unique identifier of the individual. IKe data sto rod on the smart device will preferably be compressed and encrypted prior to being stored Dn the smart device.
• step 1 13 the purchase details of that individual are accumulated with the other purchase details of that individual stored in memory and associated with the unique identifier. If they have not already done so, or if they have only provided incomplete information in the past, the individual may provide registration details In stop 1 15 during their visit using any of the method previously described such as by using a POS system, a device having access to the transaction server over the internet, or similar method,
• step 1 17 the visitor surrenders their unique identifier vin a dedicated device «n an airport such as a kiosk and completes a purchase record with all the purchase details, either electronically or by printing the fonn and then manually filling out Ihe appropriate debits.
• the visitor surrenders their unique identifier along with completed details electronically to customs in step 119.
• the approved finalised data is sent in paper or electronic form to the transaction server for processing in step 121.
• the purchase details stored on the smart device once they have been approved, are transmitted to the transaction server and removed from the smart device in step 122.
• the method then proceeds to step 123 in which the method ends by the transaction server reconciling the approved purchase record with the purchase details stored in memory and issuing a refund if appropriate to the individual.
• the individual may continue their journey or return home without surrendering their unique identifier to the authorised official in the airport in step 125.
• the individual may consciously or inadvertently fail to complete the approval of the purchase record process in which case any duty which had been refunded to them will ba recharged to their credit card and if appropriate a charge for the unique identifier carrier may be applied to them,
• the finalised data Le. data that has not been reconciled will bo transmitted to the transaction server in step 129 and the method concludes in step 123, this time without the transaction server reconciling an approved purchase record with the purchase details stored in memory.
• the second optton available to the individual after they have returned home or continued their journey in step 125 is to retrieve a purchase record containing all of their purchase details in step 131 and complete that form before having the fonrn notarised by an authorised individual and sent Io the transaction server for reconciliation.
• the form may be transmitted to the transaction server by post or other means and it is envisaged that the individual may access the purchase record via tho lntomol or il may be transrmUed to them electronically on request.
• step 133 the form is processed by ih ⁇ transaction server and a refund of duty is issued if appropriate in the manner described above.
• step 135 the finalised data is stoned by the transaction server in step 129» If in step 135, the individual realises that they have inadvertently forgotten to complete their record of purchases, they may do so and retrieve the form in step 131 In which case the method will proceed in the normal fashion in which the refunds of duty will be effected once the completed purchase record has been provided.
• the transaction! server operator may charge the customer for the value of ihe card with a nominal sum. Any returned cards may be cleared and reissued to other custornors in the future,
• the customer may p re-register with the transaction server but will not receive a card from the transaction server with their unique PfN associated therewith. This may be the case if there is insufficient time between regislratbn and the user making lhoir journey or if the user has already started their journey, in this instance, it is envisaged that they may receive a card after arrival either at the point of entry or preferably at the location of their first purchase and if they use their credit card to make that purchase, their pro-stored unique identifier and their credit card details pro-stored in transaction server memory may be associated with the card that they received al that stage and the card will essentially be loaded with all of the required information from the POS terminal.
• the transaction server operator may alternatively provide an alphanumeric code to each customer for use as the unique identifier.
• a customer may be provided with an eighteen digit (or other) cod ⁇ that they may provide to the retailer.
• ThQ code* could be transmitted to the customer via the POS system from ihe transaction server operator on the making of an initial purchase. It could be printed on the receipt of the initial purchase or could be sent to the customers mobile phone, POA, or other memory storage device capable of receiving messages wilh information.
• POS system and POS terminal have been used and are to be interpreted in a broad manner and it is not intended to be limiting to a very specific type of device or apparatus but rather is intended to encompass the many different variations of POS systems available.
• the transaction server determines whether in making the original purchase, the customer received an advanced or deferred refund, in the case of an advanced refund the transaction server amends the purchase record matched to this unique identifier and the customer receives a purchase refund via a payment method of his/her choice, minus the portion of duty advanced at the initial purchase.
• the transaction server determines that a deferred refund took place, it modifies the purchase record matched to the customer's unique Identifier to reflect the returned item, The customer receives a refund at the point of sate for the full value excluding the appropriate administration charge.
• a voided or cancelled transaction occurs when the customer returns ail items they have previously purchased - this is distinct from the terminology used Jn electronic point of sale (ePos) systems where a void is identified as the cancellation during purchase of an ttem(s).
• a void/cancellation refers to transactions that have already been completed and which have received either an advanced or deferred refund of a portion of the duty, In this case the customer wished to return atl items previously purchased and the customer wishes to cancel or void the entire transaction.
• the return details of the item being returned are transmitted by the point of safe system to the transaction sewer along with the customer's unique identifier.
• the transaction server determines whether in making the originaS purchase, the customer received an advanced or deferred refund.
• the transaction server amends the purchase record matched to this unique identifier and the customer receives a purchase refund via a payment method of his/her choice, minus the portion of duty [ess the appropriate administration charge.
• the transaction server determines that a deferred refund took place, it modifies the purchase record matched Io the customer's unique idemifier to reflect the returned item. The customer receives a refund at then point of sale- for (he full value of tho initial purchase including duly charged.
• transaction server operator has been used to denote the entity such as a com pony, individual or organisation that controls tho transaction server.
• menliorc is made of iha transaction server operator, and in particular transmitting information to or receiving Information from the transaction server operator or of acts being carried out by tho transaction server operator, it is understood that these communications or these actions may be being carried out automatically by the transaction server without additional human intervention or interaction.
• an approved purchase record will be sent directly to the transaction server of the transaction server operator which will then determine whether a refund is to be issued or a recharge avoided and will instigate any such refund without any human interaction, in other implementations, human interaction may be required
• the point of sate system has been shown diagrammatlcaliy with a dedicated, separate terminal.
• the POS system and in particular a credit card reader or the tike coufd be an integrated POS system with the credit card reader directly incorporated into the POS system.
• the POS system could incorporate not onfy a memory device reader but also a memory device writer whereby information may be written to the memory device * This is seen as particularly advantageous particularly in the case when tho unique identifier is stored m a memory device such as an MP3, memory stick or mobile phone with memory.
• the information concerning the transaction may also be stored on the memory device so ( hat this information on the memory device may be used to provide a purchase record to the authorised official without the customer having to access the remote transaction server.
• this specification reference is made to a plurality of retailers. It will be understood that these may be part of a single legal entity or several disparate leg at entities.
• the present invention covens wireless devices and protocols, contactless devices and the like, for communicating the unique Identifier, storage of transactions and such functionality.
• developments in card technology include biometric data and recognition are also included with the scope of this invention. It is envisaged that these types of card could hold information of the card holders address, nationality and other relevant data.
• the invention could be used as a background provider and processor to credit card.
• charge card (Am ox (RTM), Diners (RTM)) and other payment providers and not act as a direct process at ePQS.
• This would mean at each uso of the persons Visa (RTM) card or the like along with an authorization request for payment, the scheme would detect whether goods were purchased which qualified for duty rebate i.e. the credit card schemes (and others) would be able to offer automatic duty refund detection to their card users.
• This can be achieved using a standard card nationality detection used in the coding of the credit card number and this would then be compared to the retailers location to determine whether the card holder qualified for Vat/Duty discounting based on nationality.
• the system caters for a number of commissions and refunds.
• the refund model applies to the proportion of VAT/Outy which is refunded to the visitor/tourist and the balance of the amount versus the Vat/Duly content that is retained as a fee for the management and processing of that refund.
• Commission exists at a variety of levels, commission can be paid by the scheme operator to the retailers for using the operators scheme. Similarly commission may also be paid by the scheme operator to its sales force and also to other agents such as tour gu ' tdes, coach drivers and ( he like.
• a flexible model Is provided to cater for both refunds and commissions as in each case its transaction (purchase by a visiL ⁇ r/t ⁇ ur ⁇ st) must have the VATVDuIy content of their purchase divided between the visitor/tourist as a refund and the remaining funds divided between the scheme operator, retailers, sates persons and agents as commission.
• the system will incorporate si* separate schemes which can bo ⁇ sed to calculate both tourist/visitor refunds and also retailer commission, safes person and agent commissions.
• the model can easily have other add it to rial schemes added if required,
• the six basic schemes are a Flat Rate percentage scheme, a Scale Value table which is calculated on a purchase amount basis, a Scale Value table which is calculated as a percentage of the total purchase amount based on the purchase amount basis, a Scale Quantity table whereby the rebate specified as an amount of goods purchased, a Scale Quantity table whereby the rebate is specified as a percentage of the total purchase amount based on the number of items purchased and a Scale Administration Charge table whereby the rebate is specified as an amount based on the total expenditure.
• Other remuneration schemes could also be provided and what must be understood is that the system Is flexible and allows for simple modification to suit then individual retailers needs.
• One final aspect of the present invention is that it also includes a comprehensive reporting model for its various users, such as scheme operators, retailers, departmental reports and user designed reports.
• scheme operators it Is possible to generate statutory reports for reporting of VAT/D ⁇ ly to the various national revenue authorities plus a suite ef reports covering performance, retailers, sales and the like.
• retailers it is possible to provide a suite of reports providing the retailer with fiscal and performance information
• departmental reports it is possible to provide reporting to an accounts department, sales and marketing departments at both scheme operator and retailer levels.
• user designed reports will provide a mechanism for users to design their own reporting requirements-
• Executive Analysis Model which may he provided with a suite of data analysis tools permitting scheme operators, retailors and others to do statistical analysis o!
• the EFT Model provides settlements to retailors, safes persons, agents, visitors/ Io urists and the like
• the Back Office Management Model provides a suite of applications allowing for day to day management e.g. adding new retailers to the system, issuing unique id's, creating retailer specific refund tables and the like, Fin ⁇ tly, the LivelipDate feature will provide for Retail ePos systems that need to be always on' i.e « allow for failures at multiple levels and stiH be operational.
• the system incorporates a subsystem which will ensure data storage of transactions in the event of a failure at local level vvllhf ⁇ a retailors ePos network, a failure within a retailers wicfe area network, a failure of communications systems ⁇ tet ⁇ pt ⁇ ne, broadband or the like), the data can then be communicated on ⁇ the failure has been repaired.
• This subsystem will also ensure loca! copies are maintained of tourist refund tables and other data critical to the upkeep of the GPOS system in the event of one or more failures,

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• 2006
  • 2006-10-25 AU AU2006349535A patent/AU2006349535B2/en active Active
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