A lot of people are unaware of this money saving information, but EU visitors who are non-residents are entitled to claim VAT (tax) refunds within three months of purchase. It means that when you purchase goods (minimum amount of purchase differs in each country) in Europe, you can get a tax refund before leaving the country.
How it works: When you visit a store, ask the employee if they provide the service and to tell you the minimum purchases required to qualify and to meet the threshold for a refund. (For example, when I was in Austria, it was €75 and in Denmark 300DKK) At the checkout, ask the cashier to provide you with the VAT refund document. They may ask for a proof of non-residency (i.e. a passport). The shop assistant will fill in the shop’s part of the form. You will receive an invoice for the goods. You must show the invoice, the refund form, the goods and any other necessary documents to the customs officers of the last EU country you leave. The customs officers must stamp the form as proof of export. Without the stamp, you will not obtain the refund.
If you ask to be reimbursed in cash, you may be charged an extra fee. I usually opt to be refunded on my credit card.
To give you an idea, on my last trip in Denmark, I bought a shirt for 300DKK ($60 CAD) (which met the minimum threshold). The cashier completed the VAT refund document. When I packed my suitcase, I made sure to put all my purchased items in my carry on so I could show them to the customs agent upon request. At the airport I found the VAT refund desk (which is usually before security) and I was reimbursed $15 CAD on my credit card. It’s 25% of the price I paid! It varies depending on the country between 8% and 27%!
Threshold by country:
Austria (€75, 20%), Belgium (€50, 21%), Bulgaria (250 BGN, 20%), Croatia (740 HRK, 25%) Czech Republic (2 000 CZK, 21%), Denmark (300 DKK, 25%), Estonia (€38, 20%), Finland (€40, 24%), France (€175, 20%), Germany (€25, 19%), Great Britain (€30, 20%), Greece (€50, 24%), Hungary (54 000 HUF, 27%), Iceland (6 000 ISK, 24%), Ireland (€30, 23%), Italy (€155, 22%), Latvia (€44, 21%), Lithuania (€55, 21%), Luxembourg (€74, 16%), Malta (€100, 18%), Netherlands (€50, 21%), Norway (315 NOK, 25%), Poland (200 PLN, 23%), Portugal (€62, 23%), Romania (250 RON, 19%), Slovakia (€100, 20%), Slovenia (€50, 22%), Spain (€90, 21%), Sweden (200 SEK, 25%), Switzerland (300 CHF, 8%), Turkey (118 TRY, 18%).
Be aware that this minimum amount does not correspond to the sum of all your purchases in one country, but to the sum of your purchases in one store. So, if we take France for instance, you will have to make a minimum purchase of €175 in the same store to be entitled to the refund of the VAT which is 20%. On the other hand if you are in Ireland, the minimum purchase required for a single store is €30 and you will be refunded 23% on your purchase.
Note that you don’t have to go to the VAT refund desk in each country you visit in the EU. You can go to France and Austria for instance and bring your forms for both countries at the Austrian airport. The VAT refund desk will ask you to have the French documents stamped by the customs before reimbursing you. It’s just an extra step. In Denmark it only took me an extra 5 mins to do it.
Happy shopping!
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Mlle Wanderlust
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