Money & paymentsBy Clever Tourists · Published
Visitors who live outside the EU can claim back VAT on goods bought in Spain, Italy and Germany, but the minimum spend differs: EUR 0.01 in Spain, EUR 70.01 in Italy and EUR 50.01 in Germany, per Planet's country pages. In all three you ask the shop for a Tax Free form, take the unused goods out of the EU in your luggage, and get the form stamped by customs at your last point of exit from the EU, not necessarily in the country where you shopped. Then you collect the refund from the operator, less its fee. This page covers shop-to-airport steps; the thresholds and deadlines below come from Planet's country pages and a Spanish tourism page, and operators can change them, so check the form you are given. We were in Spain in June to August 2022 (Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and others), Germany in July 2023 (Berlin 3 days, Munich 5) and Italy in July and August 2023 (Verona, Bologna, Venice).
Free toolConvert to your own currency at live rates →Live mid-market rates for all 17 currencies we used, so you can see what a price actually costs.• Spain: minimum EUR 0.01 (effectively no minimum), standard VAT 21%, with 10% on food and optics and 4% on books and medicines.
• Italy: minimum EUR 70.01, standard VAT 22%, with reduced rates for food, optics and jewellery at 10% and 4% on staples such as milk, fruit and vegetables.
• Germany: minimum EUR 50.01 per receipt, standard VAT 19%, with 7% on food, books and medicines.
• Who: permanent residents of a country outside the EU. Residents of EU countries are excluded, so carry your passport and be ready to show it.
• What: goods for personal use that leave the EU in your luggage. Services, hotels and restaurant meals are not refundable.
Note that the UK is not in the EU and has no tourist VAT refund; Visit London says the scheme ended in 2021. If your route ends in London, shop for VAT-free goods before you cross.
Germany counts the minimum per receipt, so ask how a shop applies it before you split a purchase across invoices.
1. At the shop. Ask for a Tax Free form (often a Planet or Global Blue form) and show your passport. The shop fills the form, and you keep it with the receipt.
2. Keep goods unused. Customs can ask to see them. Keep them out of your hold bag until stamped.
3. Validate at your last EU exit. If you leave the EU from the country you shopped in, validate there. If you fly Madrid, then Frankfurt, then home, validate at Frankfurt and not in Madrid. Forms issued elsewhere need a physical customs stamp, so do not rely on a kiosk for them.
4. Digital validation in Spain. Forms issued in Spain can be validated at a DIVA kiosk at a Spanish airport or seaport if Spain is also your last EU exit: scan the form's barcode and follow the screen. A red result means you must see customs. If you connect through another EU country, kiosks do not apply and you need customs at the actual exit point.
5. Collect the refund. Take the stamped form to the operator's refund office at the airport (cash or card), or post it back in the prepaid envelope or a drop box if you did not get the money on the spot.
Allow at least an extra hour. Customs queues are long at peak times, and customs is before check-in.
• Customs stamp: in all three countries Planet gives three months plus the rest of the issuing month.
• Claiming the money after stamping: Spain allows up to four years from the issue date, Germany three years. For Italy, Planet says forms issued before 2026 had three months plus the issuing month, while forms issued in 2026 get five months plus the issuing month.
• Cash limits: Spain EUR 1,000 in cash before or after validation, Italy EUR 1,000 in cash, Germany EUR 1,000 in cash before validation and EUR 3,000 after (except at the Planet desk at Frankfurt airport). Larger refunds go on a credit card.
• Pre-validation refunds: Planet offers a refund before you leave for forms over EUR 150 in Spain and Germany. You must return the stamped form within 21 days or your guarantee card can be charged.
These are the operator's rules, not the tax offices'. If your form is from another operator, the numbers may differ, so read the instructions printed on it.
The headline is 21%, 22% or 19%, but the refund is a share of the VAT, not a percentage of the sticker price, and the operator keeps a fee. Guides estimate the net return at roughly 10% to 14% of the price on standard-rated goods, and less on smaller sums where fixed fees weigh more.
In practice a EUR 300 jacket returns roughly EUR 30 to EUR 40. On a EUR 80 purchase in Italy you only just clear the minimum, and the fee may eat much of it. That is why the process suits larger purchases: leather, clothing, shoes, electronics.
Cities in these countries also add a nightly tax on hotels, which is separate and not refundable: see Italy's tourist tax by city and the Barcelona tourist tax guide.
• Checking the bag with the goods inside before customs has stamped.
• Validating in the wrong country, or at a place that is not the last EU exit.
• Missing the stamp deadline after a long multi-country trip.
• Not asking for the form until after paying.
• Forgetting that EES border checks add time on exit as well as entry; read our ETIAS and EES explainer.
If you want to compare, our Japan tax-free shopping guide shows how a refund-at-departure system works there. For budgets in each country see how much a trip costs in Spain, Italy and Germany, and our guides to Spain and Italy.
Planet lists EUR 0.01 in Spain, EUR 70.01 in Italy and EUR 50.01 in Germany, per receipt.
By customs at your last point of exit from the EU, with the unused goods, receipts, form and passport. If you fly onward through another EU country, validate there.
Planet gives three months plus the rest of the month in which the form was issued, in Spain, Italy and Germany.
Yes at an operator's refund office, with cash limits of EUR 1,000 in Spain and Italy and EUR 1,000 before or EUR 3,000 after validation in Germany. Larger refunds go to a card.
No. The tourist VAT refund scheme ended in 2021 and Visit London says there are no confirmed plans to restore it.
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