‘Hemas Cash Back’ VAT reclaim service helps travellers transform trash into cash

From left: Hemas Leisure, Travel and Aviation Group Managing Director Malinga Arsakularatne, Hemas Travels Director Riza Ahamat, Hemas Cash Back Manager Amila Gunawardana, Switzerland Cash Back Head of Network Operations Jane Holmberg, Hemas Travel Cluster Director Harith Perera and Hemas Travels Manager Business Development Asitha Amerasinghe

Hemas Travels, the local representative for Hogg Robinson Group (HRG), the global travel management company with representation in over 120 countries, has been appointed the official representative for Cash Back, the VAT reclaim organisation with its Head Office in Switzerland. 

“Hemas is delighted to have been given the rights to market and sell the Cash Back VAT reclaim services in the local market in order to significantly reduce our clients travel costs,” said Amila Gunawardana, Manager in Charge of Hemas Cash Back.

Each year, businesses in the region spend millions in VAT on services supplied in UK, Europe, Canada and Australia. It includes VAT charged on hotel accommodation, entertainment, telephone calls, travel, transportation, training, conferences, meetings and events, exhibitions, as well as other services. Recovering VAT on these types of services represents a significant cost saving when it is refunded to companies by Hemas Cash Back. 

With the Hemas Cash Back tie-up, corporate organisations based in Sri Lanka can reclaim what is rightfully theirs in terms of VAT refunds for all travel and related costs incurred during business trips made in the above markets.

You could say that Hemas Cash Back simply turns your trash into cash.  These two giants, Hemas and United Cash Back with their 60 and 30 years travel and VAT reclaim experience respectively, together offer end-to-end solutions for businesses, helping to reduce a company’s expenses by managing their VAT expenditure on travel costs.  Together there is also the opportunity to consolidate the total VAT reclaim process regionally for larger organisations.  

“We at Hemas Travels are positive that our corporate travel solution services with HRG will be further enhanced by the network partnership with Cash Back. By offering this unique VAT Reclaim service to our clients we feel privileged to be part of a scheme that will enable our corporates to get back what is rightfully theirs. After all we are talking about a lot of money which companies are losing today by leaving it at the tax authorities across Europe,” Gunawardana added.

“Cash Back is proud to be associated with Hemas, one of Sri Lanka’s largest award winning, IATA accredited travel agencies,” said Jane Holmberg, Head of United Cash Back Operations. This Cash Back appointment with Hemas enables travellers to experience a first class travel service with the added benefit of knowing that they can reduce their foreign travel budget by as much as 20% through reclaiming the VAT that is rightfully theirs.”

“As HRG’s representative in Sri Lanka, Hemas Travels has always set the local benchmark for corporate travellers to experience the best of what any global business travel agent has to offer. This partnership is further testimony to this as HRG Sri Lanka adds to the list of reasons why they should be the corporate travel agent of choice in Sri Lanka,” said Fahim Jalali, Regional Head for HRG and Cash Back across Middle East, West Asia and North Africa. 

The process is simple, Hemas Cash Back simply registers each client and collects their original invoices for submission to the relevant tax authorities, providing regular updates on the status of each claim, all working to ensure that maximum refunds are reclaimed for the client’s business.

“With this truly win-win proposition there is nothing to lose especially due to a no-refund no-fee policy which transforms a client’s otherwise valueless invoices into a significant source of income. It has never been easier for a company to significantly reduce its costs at no extra expense. The senior management of Hemas is really excited about the prospect of this new agency and how it can help Sri Lankan businesses,” Gunawardana concluded.

The Hemas Group is one of the leading conglomerates in Sri Lanka, listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange with a focus on Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Healthcare, Transportation, and Leisure.