Can tourists claim VAT back in France?

WHO IS ENTITLED TO TAX-FREE GOODS? Leisure travellers whose usual place of residence is in a country outside the European Union are entitled to have VAT deducted from the purchases that they have made in France. The visitor concerned must be aged 16 or more and be visiting France for a period of less than 6 months.



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If your primary residence is located in a non-EU country or a third country, the value-added tax (VAT) may be deducted from the price of your purchases in France. As a non-EU resident, if you purchase duty-free items in France to take back to your home country, you are eligible for reimbursement of the VAT.

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For an immediate VAT refund, you should present all your documents at the tax refund desk at the airport, the port or the train station from which you are departing. Otherwise, you must send the documents by post to a tax refund office such as Detaxe SAS, Global Blue France or Detaxe.com.

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In the European Union, it means that you can only claim a tax refund when you're actually leaving the EU zone - you won't be able to claim a refund of the VAT if you're only traveling between two EU countries.

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You should take your refund forms, receipts, and the items you bought with you to a VAT office at the airport. Allow enough time before your flight departs. If the merchant didn't give you an instant refund, you might get your tax refund at the last stop before you leave the EU.

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