TOURIST RETAIL · · 6 min read

LS Central Connector for Planet Tax: Hassle-Free Tourist VAT Refund

Tourist VAT refunds processed inside the LS Central till — no second terminal, no manual paperwork, no Friday reconciliation. Built for UAE retail.

NOVASOFT · TOURIST RETAIL
Written by Novasoft
Microsoft and LS Retail Diamond Partner | UAE and KSA | May 2026 | 6 min read
TOURIST RETAIL VAT REFUND LS CENTRAL

LS Central Connector for Planet Tax: Hassle-Free Tourist VAT Refund

Tourist VAT refunds processed at the till — no extra terminals, no manual paperwork, no Friday-evening reconciliation.

Tourist VAT refunds are a major sales driver for UAE mall retailers and a compliance burden for the back office. The Novasoft LS Central + Planet Tax connector embeds the refund issuance into the LS Central till — the cashier scans, the customer signs once, and the refund document is generated and registered with Planet automatically.

Tourist VAT Refund in UAE — the Real Workflow

Planet Payment is the UAE's appointed tourist VAT refund operator. When an eligible tourist makes a qualifying purchase, the retailer issues a "Tax-Free" tag tied to the transaction. The tourist validates the refund at the airport on departure, and Planet settles the refund — minus its commission — to the retailer's account. The friction is at the till: a second terminal, a separate workflow, and a stack of paper at the end of every shift.

AED 250
minimum purchase value for tourist VAT refund
5%
VAT refunded (less Planet's fixed deduction)
90 d
validity for the tourist to claim at airport

One transaction, one workflow

The reason retailers leak time on tourist refunds is that the refund and the sale are treated as separate workflows. The cashier rings the sale on the POS, then turns to a Planet terminal, then re-enters the line items, then asks the tourist to sign. Three steps that should be one.

The Novasoft LS Central + Planet Tax connector folds the entire workflow into the LS Central transaction — one swipe of the passport, one signature, one printed Tax-Free tag.

Five Capabilities in the Connector

1. In-POS passport capture

Cashier scans the tourist's passport on the LS Central till; Planet API validates eligibility instantly.

2. Eligibility check by item

Line items flagged for tax-free eligibility automatically — consumables and services excluded per FTA rules.

3. Tax-Free tag generation

The Planet Tax-Free tag prints on the same receipt printer as the sales invoice; no second terminal, no second roll of paper.

4. Refund status tracking

LS Central tracks each tag from issuance → validation → settlement; finance sees the queue, not a paper trail.

5. Settlement reconciliation

Planet's payout statements reconcile automatically against LS Central refund records — Friday reconciliation goes from half a day to a coffee.

"Every mall retailer in Dubai loses ten minutes per refund to manual steps. Multiply by a hundred refunds a day, and the connector pays for itself in a fortnight."
— Amit Sobti, Director, Novasoft

Why Implement with Novasoft?

Novasoft is a Diamond LS Retail Partner 2026 with deep UAE retail experience. The Planet Tax connector is one of several Novasoft apps published on the Microsoft AppSource marketplace, tested across mall, airport, and downtown retail formats. It pairs cleanly with our retail practice and Business Central back-office.

In-POS
No second terminal, no second roll of paper.
Eligibility-Aware
FTA-rule-aligned item flagging at the till.
Reconciled
Daily Planet payout matching, automatic.

Cut Refund Workflow in Half

Bring your store list and your current refund process. We will show the LS Central + Planet flow on a real till in 30 minutes.

Book Free Assessment LS Central

Sources

  1. UAE FTA — Tourist VAT Refund Scheme. tax.gov.ae
  2. Planet Payment — Tax-Free shopping. planetpayment.com
  3. LS Retail — LS Central product. lsretail.com/products/ls-central

Last updated May 2026

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Novasoft

Microsoft & LS Retail Diamond Partner

Novasoft is a Microsoft Solutions Partner and LS Retail Diamond Partner serving customers across UAE, KSA and India.

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