Comments on: How to Get a VAT Refund in Italy

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 01:13:17 +0000

Thanks for the warning!

By: Callendulo

Callendulo — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 08:21:31 +0000

Be aware of the cheating practiced by the so called “New Tax Free” company that has the yellow form and is effective only in Italy. Namely, unlike the Global Refunding (the blue form) the “New Tax Free” refunds with a delay and charges more than 50% for their service!
Hence, I got 30 Euro refunding instead of 70! Complains are ignored.
You should check in the shop before buying valuable items if the provide Global Blue or the “New Tax Free” refunding service.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:14:34 +0000

I’ve not flown in/out of Ciampino Airport, so I don’t know about the tax refund offices there, but my understanding is that these tax refund offices are going to be at any airport – you’ll need to ask when you get there to find out where it is.

By: Xinyee

Xinyee — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:22:52 +0000

Can I claim my tax refund in ciampino airport??

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:40:20 +0000

I haven’t tried to get a refund myself, so I don’t know how long it should take. All the information I had about the process is in the article above – including links to more information if you want to follow up.

By: NaNa

NaNa — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 01:44:00 +0000

how long does it to get a refund, if no news, what to do? where to check? thanks,

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 26 May 2011 19:30:19 +0000

In theory, that sounds like it would work – but I don’t know for sure. I don’t know where the VAT refund offices are in the airport (whether they’re before or after security – if they’re after security, you wouldn’t be able to get to them without a ticket valid for that day), and I don’t know their office hours. You may find more information about that on the link above to the Italian customs department.

By: Meg

Meg — Mon, 23 May 2011 17:34:42 +0000

This is a great information on the VAT refund.
I will be departing from Milan Linate airport early in the morning (around 6 am). Are the VAT refund offices in open 24 hrs?
My question is can I go to the custom (and get the paperwork stamped) at the airport anytime or one or two days before leaving Italy? That way I can get the stamped paperwork back to the store myself without mailing the paper work?

By: Jessica

Jessica — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:15:05 +0000

Hi, Dadida:

Thanks for your note. As I mentioned in this article, I’ve not tried to get a VAT refund myself, so I’m not sure if you can get a refund for stuff that’s in your checked bags. The way I read the information, you do have to have the stuff you’ve purchased with you in your carry-on bag “just in case” the officials at the airport want to look at it. They may not look at it, but if they ask and you don’t have it on you, that may well mean you won’t get the refund on it.

I do believe there are ways to get the VAT refund if you’re working with a merchant that’s set up to deal with it and you ship things home (from the merchant directly), so that might be your best option if you can’t carry it all on.

Good luck,
Jessica

By: dadida

dadida — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:05:23 +0000

Deat Jessica,

Thank you very much for sharing this info! Going to spend xmas in Italy and planning to do lots of shopping. One question though, I heard that if you wish to claim for VAT you need to hand-carry the items through immigration. Since I’ll most likely end up with lots of stuff to bring home (much like the photo that you put up there!) I don’t think it’s gonna be possible for me to hand-carry everything.. worse, the flight attendants might not even let me board! Any idea how I can claim check-in the items yet still claim for VAT?