The Process for claiming your Tax Refund at Rome Fiumicino Airport:
There are lots of advice on the internet on the process to follow to get your vat refund at Rome Fiumicino Airport. From our experience this week at Terminal 3 of Rome Fiumicino Airport, things have changed a little.
Note: The Customs offices for VAT tax reimbursements are located in the Departures Areas of Terminals T1, T3 and T5.
To claim back your tax refund at the airport, you have to show your goods and your Vat Refund Form to the Customs officials who will then stamp your documentation if they are satisfied that the goods presented match your Refund Form. This requirement hasn’t changed.
There are two methods for getting your tax refund processed at Rome Fiumicino Airport:
Option 1:
If you are hand-carrying your purchases, it’s easier to go through Immigration first and then sort out your VAT refund at the Customs Desk past the Immigration point. Not many people are aware of this option.
Option 2:
If you’ve done a lot of shopping and wish to pack your shopping into your check-in baggage, the process is as follows:
- You must first do your airline check-in and obtain your boarding pass. VAT Refund can only be processed at your final point of departure from the EU and your boarding pass provides evidence of your next destination. Advise the check-in person that you’d like your luggage back as you need to do your tax refund.
- With your tagged luggage, boarding pass, passport, goods purchased and tax refund form, go to the Customs Tax Refund Office which, at Terminal 3, is next to the Departure gate. Once you’ve satisfied Customs that you have all the goods that you’re claiming the tax refund for, your documentation will be stamped and you can then pack all your goods in your case. The case must be deposited through a dedicated baggage channel next to the customs office
- Your stamped tax refund document can then be deposited in the mail boxes provided by the respective tax refund companies, or if you prefer cash you can claim this once you’ve passed through Immigration. Generally, I prefer to have the cash in hand as it takes months before the claim by mail is processed and then again there’s no guarantee that it will happen. However, as our Customs wait was so long all we had time for was to go through Immigration and then board our flight.
Warning:
The number of times that we’ve used Option 2, we found the process to be excruciatingly slow and painful. This week’s experience is no different. The sign explaining the process is not very clear and many non-English speaking travellers do not understand it anyway. We were explaining to people partly by sign language what they needed to do.
The customs officials don’t seem concerned at the lengthening queue. One officer was giving a Taiwanese woman a really hard time asking to see every item on her extensive shopping list. After 40 minutes in the queue we finally make it to the head of the line and by this time a supervisor arrives. She notices from our boarding card that our flight is already boarding. The awkward customs official finishes turning the Taiwanese lady’s luggage inside out and now it’s our turn to be worked over by her. Fortunately for us, her supervisor instructs her to clear us through immediately without checking any of our goods. She wasn’t happy and muttering under her breath she lands her heavy-handed stamp on our vat refund form.
If you’re doing a lot of shopping in Rome, you should allow ample time to get your tax refund document stamped. If you happen to be behind a group of keen Taiwanese shoppers as we were, it can take more than 30 minutes. There was a huge queue behind us and people were getting rather exasperated.
Looking forward to your comments...
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Thanks Helen! Exactly the info that I’ve been looking for.
We made a purchase in Venice, behind St. Marco square. Nearby, there is a Vat Refund Kiosk. We presented our purchase invoice, passports, etc. He said everything was in order and gave us an instant refund. We thought, gee, that was great service.
Lo and behold, on returning to Canada, the Refund Office in Rome, had reversed the transaction and charged the VAT back on our Credit Card.
From my experience the VAT refund business is a scam. To whom can one make a complaint?
Robert W
Robert,
Sorry to hear of your bad experience. When it comes to VAT refund in Italy, I’ve learned that the surest way of getting your money back is to process your claim at the Customs office at the airport and then again to go for the cash refund. The last time, due to time pressure, I dropped my claim form in their dedicated mail box, the refund never came.
You can lodge your complaint with the Azienda di Promozione Turistica Venezia (Venice Tourist Promotion Board).
APT della Provincia di Venezia
Castello 5050, 30122 Venezia
Tel. 041.5298711 fax 041.5230399
E-mail: info@turismovenezia.it
Clause 3 (10) of their charter says that “It accepts and forwards notifications of disservices and complaints…..” .
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.turismo.provincia.venezia.it/pdf/APT-IAT/VENEZIA/Chart_Venezia.pdf&prev=/search%3Fq%3DAzienda%2Bdi%2BPromozione%2BTuristica%2BVenezia%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-au:IE-SearchBox%26prmd%3Divnsm&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhjbVFYJunr9o1HcxDANDhena50yrw
You could also try writing to your local Italian Embassy and see if they can give your further advice.
Good luck with the complaint.
Kind regards,
Helen
Robert – the reason your refund was reveresed, was that you didn’t show your goods and get the Tax Refund form stamped by Italy Customs. The method you used is great for gettting the VAT back quick, but does not exempt you from showing Customs the goods as you leave the EU.
Der Helen,
I have bought for 954.90 euros – on the 22 april, and since now did not receive on my account the amount of tax refund- I gave my account number but not my credit card- was it a mistake?
what shall I do-
many thanks for answering my question-
catherine
Dear Catherine,
Firstly, tax refunds do take a long processing time – anything from 6 to 12 months is possible. That’s why my preference is always to get a cash refund at the airport, if possible.
You would have used the refund service of either Global Blue or Premier Tax Free when you lodged your tax refund claim .
Premier has Track My Refund form that you can complete. However, a compulsory field is your Voucher Number. If you deposited your forms at the airport, it is unlikely that you will have this number. However, you’ve got nothing to lose by trying.
http://www.premiertaxfree.com/en/index.php/tourist/refund-tracking-system
If you’ve used the Global Blue service, they do say that bank account payments are only for “Bank account issued in the country of purchase”, i.e. if you shopped in Italy, they will only pay to an Italian bank account. Below link takes you to their contact page. Also, they do need you to provide the Global Blue voucher number.
http://www.global-blue.com/traveller-services/tax-free-shopping/contact-us/
Catherine, getting your tax refund is a rather challenging exercise, so by all means give it a go, but don’t be surprised if nothing comes of it.
Good luck and Kind regards,
Helen
The whole procedure at Fiumicino is a typical Italian scam in order to not give you any refund. First you have to know the procedure in order to arrive early ( a real challenge considering the traffic) then you have to KNOW to pack all shopping goods in a separate carry-on, stay on a long line at check-in ( Italy has no Web check in), then stay on a second line to have the forms stamped, unpack the carry on and show item by item the purchased goods, then stay on a third line to get your refund. If you are late, if you have packed the goods into your main luggage,you will have to carry THAT luggage, unpack THAT luggage, you will never make it or your luggage will never make it to your flight as you surrender it at a different counter then the flight’s counter and with the “professionally” and “integrity” Italian touch it will more than surely be messed up. If one has gone through Paris, London, Amsterdam, Frankfort or other EU airports you will immediately see the scam at Fiumicino. BTW has anyone ever paid for table cover anywhere in Europe EXCEPT for Italy ??
Hello: I bought some jewelry in Italy and received a form called “GLobal Refund Cheque”. The merchant did not charge me the VAT tax, but explained that i had to have the form stamped at the airport or else the tax would be imposed later via my credit card. The signs at the airport indicated that the stamp could be obtained in Terminal C, my departure Terminal. I therefore checked my bags went through security and arrived in Terminal C, only to be told that the VAT Tax kiosk was closed. I would have to go to Terminal H, which I could’nt do because i would have missed my flight. I called AMEX from the airport and they made a note of it. But this seems like a total scam. Has anyone else had a similar experience that they succeeded in keeping the VAT tax off their credit card bill even without a stamp? If so, how did you do it? Thanks for any advice.
Hi Helen, We too went through the queue at Fiumicino Airport at Terminal 3 but had no problems and the wait wasn’t too bad. We, however, are still waiting for our VAT refunds. Out problem has to do with overlooking getting one of our Tax Refund Cheque stamped by Customs. We simply forgot to show it. Is there anyway that you are aware of how we can now get the form stamped by Customs since we are now back in Australia? Our situation is that we didn’t pay the VAT but if we don’t get the form stamped by Customs then we will have to pay it. Any advice would be gratefully received. Kind regards, Rob
Hi Robert,
In instances where the retailer does not charge the VAT, they will be ultimately be responsible for paying the VAT to Customs if they don’t get the stamped documents back from you. Hence they will then charge the VAT paid back to you.
Yours is a difficult situation as Customs will usually want to see the goods before providing the Customs stamp, i.e. they need to be satisfied that the goods are being exported from the EU.
You could try emailing or writing to the Bureau of Customs at Leonard da Vinci International Airport and explaining your situation and perhaps attach a copy of the Tax Refund Cheque and a photo of the goods purchased. Ask their advice on what can be done.
Below link includes some contact details.
http://www.agenziadogane.it/wps/wcm/connect/Internet/ed/Agenzia/Uffici/Indirizzi+e+Organigramma+periferico/Organigramma+Direzioni+regionali+e+interregionali/Lazio+e+Abruzzo/Ufficio+delle+Dogane+di+Roma+2+-+Aeroporto+Internazionale+Leonardo+da+Vinci
Give it a try as as you have nothing to lose, but don’t get your hopes up too much given all the above comments.
Kind regards,
Helen
Hi..
i am travelig from bangladesh-germany-italy-bangladesh. i shopped tax free at nuremberg in germany but in nurembreg airport there is no such refund booth. Can i claim this in Fiumicino airport to my way back to bangladesh?
Your VAT can only be claimed at the final point of exiting the EU. As Italy is your final exit point of exit, Fiumicino Airport is where you should claim for your VAT refund. Please be sure to allow yourself plenty of time as the queues can be long especially during the peak trav el season.
Kind regards,
Helen Page
thanks a lot.
lets cross fingers n see wat happens…
Hi…
It went well, i got the refund, though it was too low an amount(100Eur)
But italy Govt has a new rule that only upto 1000 Eur can be refunded as cash. any amount beyond 1000Eur will be refunded by credit card.
Thanks again..
take care!
Glad you got your VAT refunded and thanks for sharing in regard to 1000 EUR cash limit. Although I would say that most visitors would be below that limit.
Kind regards,
Helen Page
hello, i was just wondering if there are helpful phrases or words in italian to help me get my VAT refund at FCO airport? The goods I have are only hand carried. Hope you guys can share. Thanks.
Jo, the important thing is to follow the process, i.e. you must show your goods, your receipt and VAT refund form to the Customs officials who will stamp your form if they are satisfied that the goods purchased and documentation match.
Unless the goods that you have are really unusual, they won’t expect you to explain anything in Italian. Of course, it is always nice to be able to say good morning or good afternoon in Italian and thank you.
Kind regards,
Helen Page
Hi Helen, just a quick check with you. Does the goods purchased need to be new and unused in order to claim back the VAT refund? For example bags and shoes. Thanks.
Hi Chong,
There’s no restrictions on you using your bags or shoes, prior to leaving the EU, to qualify for VAT refund. Your goods have to be exported within three months of purchase. Obviously if you are wearing your shoes, you don’t want them looking so used that you might get queried as to whether those were really the shoes that you bought.
Kind regards,
Helen Page