Paris Delices City Guide

VAT (value-added tax, known in France as TVA), is a tax on the consumption of goods and services, and is paid by the consumer at a standard rate of 19.6% (33% for luxury goods, 5.5% for food). If you are a traveler who is normally resident in a country which is not a member of the European Union, you may deduct Value Added Tax (VAT) from the total of the purchases you made in France.

Who is eligible?
You must be:
- 15 years of age or over
- resident in a third country at the date of purchase
- in France for under six months

To be eligible for the VAT refund, an item (or items) must be purchased in one day in one place and must equal or exceed 175€. You cannot combine purchases from different retail shops to total the required amount, or combine purchases from various days to total the required amount. The VAT for services (restaurants/theater, etc.) is non-refundable.

There is no refund for tax you pay on:
- food products and beverages
- tobacco products
- medicines
- firearms (except smooth bore sporting and hunting guns and small hand-guns for target-shooting or for exhibition purposes)
- unset precious stones
- cultural property
- automobiles, motorcycles, boats, planes, as well as their parts and accessories (these items are eligible: car radios and cassette players as well as sports items such as bicycles and windsurfing boards)
- purchases of a commercial nature (e.g. in such quantities that it is reasonable to believe they are not intended for your personal use)

How to get your VAT refund
First you may want to inquire as to whether the retailer participates in the tax free scheme - not all retail businesses do, nor are they required to participate.

When making a purchase, the retailer will give you an export sales form “bordereau de détaxe” consisting of three sheets which must be signed by the retailer and yourself if you wish to apply for a VAT refund. By signing these, you are agreeing to certain formalities.

You will be asked to present the goods and the form to a French customs agent when leaving the European Union. The forms must be presented to a customs agent within three months from the date of purchase.

Have the form stamped, like all customs forms, by customs officials when you leave the country or, if you’re visiting several European Union countries, when you leave the EU. Be ready to show customs officials what you have bought (pack purchases together, in your carry-on luggage); budget extra time for this. In France, you then put the letter into any one of the mailboxes at the airport — postage is already paid and there is usually a mailbox near the TVA counter. Your refund will arrive either as a credit to your credit card or as a check in U.S. dollars. You can also go to the French consulate in your country with your plane tickets, your VAT forms, and the items you purchased to receive the stamp, but it will cost you $21; there is a three-month (after date of purchase) time limit.

VAT Refunds
You should receive, within a reasonable spell of time, the amount of refunded tax directly from the store, paid according to your instructions, given on the Retail Export Form (check mailed to your address, bank transfer to your checking account or to your credit card account, etc…). If you don’t receive your tax refund, you have to contact the store and not the French Customs.

Some stores may deduct the tax from the price of goods when you purchase them. They do so under their own responsibility and you are still required to apply for Customs endorsement of your Retail Export Form upon leaving the European Union, even if you did not pay tax on the goods.

A refund service can save you some hassle, for a fee. Global Refund is a Europe-wide service with 190,000 affiliated stores and more than 700 refund counters — located at every major airport and border crossing. Its refund form is called a Tax Free Check. The service issues refunds in the form of cash, check, or credit-card adjustment, minus a processing fee. If you don’t have time to wait at the refund counter, you can mail in the form instead.

Global Refund. 99 Main Street, Suite 307, Nyack, NY, 10960 USA
Tel: 800 - 566-9828
FAX: 845-348-1549

Global Refund Website