I am an Australian woman married to a Maltese. As tourists, when we purchase certain items, we are entitled to a VAT refund, and normally receive this within two months of departure from Malta, as stated on the document we handed in at the airport.

Why is it then that the VAT office informs me that the refund has been approved and processed and yet after six months I am still awaiting a draft that should have been posted to me in Australia by last October?

I wonder how many more tourists visiting Malta have been waiting as long as we have for a refund. We love Malta, but I think this is so wrong of the VAT office.

This does not happen in other countries that we have visited as tourists. In Australia you get your duty free tax back when you produce your receipt at the airport on departure. You are never expected to wait six months for a refund from Australia, or any other country for that matter.

This is not our first trip to Malta but I am sorry to say it may be our last if this is how the Ministry of Tourism treats the island’s tourists.