Global tax free shopping

[wizzywig]

Hi. Im a UK resident on holiday in the EU. I've seen that we can claim back vat on items costing more than €50 . Is this only possible in stores that have the 'shop tax free' sticker or is it any shop? Thanks

Yes, because they are the only shops signed up with the local Customs authorities. You can't just collect till receipts as you go along.

Which country are you in OP? Which airport (or other) will you be using to get home? This information will help others to help you. I don't think the above poster is necessarily right. I know there are some apps for specific countries that will speed up your claim, and I know, eg in Alicante airport, there is a dedicated desk to allow you to reclaim your VAT back.

I did this recently, obviously depends on what you’re buying, but seems easier in a department store or shopping mall that has a dedicated desk, this means you can tie up all your shopping in one transaction. Westfield Mall in Lille for example will allow you to take receipts from any of the shops to its desk in the mall. We bought our things in a department store in Rome, took receipts to their kiosks in store, where we got a voucher/reciept, then at the airport we used this in another kiosk and the tax was refunded back. It was quite straightforward, but you need to get the tax-free receipt sorted at the time of purchase and then allow enough time to process that when you leave the country.

Just to add you also need either your passport or a photo of your passport when shopping. You need to add your passport number to the system.

Im uk based and will be leaving Greece through Athens airport. I had hoped I could just collect receipts for any clothes, cosmetics and whatnot and get the vat back

No, it will have to be officially affiliated shops with the sticker. There may also be a minimum spend per receipt of something like 50 Euros per transaction (probably not per item, though), to make it worth their while. And the amount you get back will probably only be about 80% of the VAT that you paid, because someone has to pay for all those stickers and computers to administer the system.