Are you entitled to a VAT refund?
Find answers to all of your questions regarding our epay Tax Free service.
You are entitled to tax-free if you reside outside the European Union – or in the European territories listed below, and you purchase goods for personal use and export them to your home country (the service does not apply to commercial shipments).
European territories ENTITLED to tax-free shopping in Europe: Busingen, Campione d’Italia, Ceuta, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Heligoland, Aland Islands, Canary Islands, Channel Islands, Faroe Islands, Lake Lugano, Livigno, Martinique, Mayotte, Melilla, Mount Athos, Reunion and Saint-Martin (French part).
Ask for your tax-free form in the shop when you make your purchase on the mainland.
When you return, you must first pay the IGIC (Canary Islands) or IPSI (Ceuta/Melilla) at your local tax office in order to obtain the VAT refund.
Once the innova tax-free form has been digitally validated, you will receive your refund.
For more information on the procedure for residents in the Canary Islands,
When you make your purchase, you must ask for the tax-free form in the shop. The shop staff will give you the tax-free form together with the purchase receipt.
In Spain, there is no minimum purchase to get tax-free. To check the minimum purchase in other countries, visit this section and click on the country you need to know: https://epaytaxfree.com/tax-free-conditions/
In Spain, the period for validating tax-free forms is 3 months from the date of purchase, so you will only be able to make tax-free purchases during this period, provided that the visa expires when you leave the European Union.
To check the validation periods for other countries, visit this section and click on the country you need to know: https://epaytaxfree.com/tax-free-conditions/
You can apply for tax-free on all products that can be exported when you leave the European Union. You cannot claim tax-free on services (restaurants, hotels, etc.).
There are some exceptions of products on which you cannot claim Tax Free:
Ask for your Tax Free forms with every purchase you make. Shops should give you a postage-paid envelope along with the Tax Free document. Whichever country they are issued in, you must validate them all at the last point of exit from the European Union, before checking in your bags.
Once validated, put them in the envelope and deposit it in a post box (either from Europe or once in your country). You do not need to put a stamp on these envelopes.
For more information on VAT refunds, please see the European Commission Guide:
https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/guide-vat-refund-visitors-eu_en
You must validate the form in the last EU country you visit before returning to your home country. Carry out the validation procedure before checking in your luggage, in case Customs asks you to check the goods.
If you have made purchases in Spain, and you are leaving from Spain, the validation must be digital. The digital procedure also applies in France (for purchases made in France) and in Portugal (for purchases made in Portugal). In these cases, it is not necessary to send it by post afterwards.
In all other countries, the validation is done with a manual stamp. In this case, you will need to send us your stamped tax-free to our office to process the refund.
If the form is digitally validated and you want to receive the refund by credit card/Alipay, access this link, enter the barcode of your tax-free form and choose your preferred option:
https://taxfree.epaytaxfree.com/etaxfree/qr/qrstart.aspx
If the form is validated with a manual stamp, send it to our office at the following address:
epay taxfree – Euronet
Calle Cantabria, 2 – Edif. Amura, planta 3
28108 Alcobendas – Madrid – Spain
Click here to see all our active refund points: https://epaytaxfree.com/refund-locations/
You can get this refund before obtaining validation from Customs. At the office, you will be asked for your tax-free form, your passport and a credit card.
You will get the refund in cash on the spot, and your card will be pre-authorized for the VAT amount. The card will be released once you have validated your form at Customs (the period from collection to validation is 21 days).
You must validate all forms in the last EU country you visit before returning to your home country.
Carry out the validation procedure before checking in your luggage, in case Customs asks you to check the goods.
If you have made purchases in Spain, and you are leaving from Spain, the validation must be digital. The digital procedure also applies in France (for purchases made in France) and in Portugal (for purchases made in Portugal). In these cases, it is not necessary to send it by post afterwards.
In all other countries, the validation is done with a manual stamp. In this case, you will need to send us your stamped Tax Free to our office to process the refund.
You must validate the Tax Free forms at the airport where you check in your bags, before checking them in, in case Customs asks you to check the goods. You can collect it at this airport or at the airport where you make a stopover, as long as we have active offices.
Check the list of refund offices by country at this link: https://epaytaxfree.com/refund-locations/
If you have bought in Spain and are leaving from Spain, it is not necessary to have the printed form. You can validate it at the Customs machines by scanning the barcode from your mobile or tablet. If you do not have the pdf document, send us an email with your details and we will send it to you. The same procedure applies in Portugal and France.
For the rest of the countries, it is absolutely necessary that you have your Tax Free form printed so that it can be validated at Customs.
Once stamped, you can collect them at any of our refund points. Check this link to find out which offices are active in each country:
https://epaytaxfree.com/refund-locations/
Please note that each country has different deadlines for collecting the refund. See the timeframe in this table:
In this case, please send us an email to tourists@euronetworldwide.com, indicating your passport number and the country where you made the purchases. Please note that transfers can only be made to bank accounts in the same country where the tax-free was issued (Example: tax-free issued in Spain can be charged to a Spanish bank account).
In case of an incident with the Customs machines, you should go to the Customs office. The customs authorities will review your case.
If you have sent your forms to a different Tax Free company, they will send them to us. This usually takes a little longer, but please email us at tourists@euronetworldwide.com, with your passport number and the country where you made your purchases, and we will check your specific case.