VAT refunds: Europe vs Japan, who qualifies and what it really saves

A VAT refund is not a discount at the till. In Europe you pay the full price, carry the goods out of the EU, get a customs stamp and then collect the tax from the seller or a refund company. Japan has worked the opposite way until now, taking the tax off at the counter, and from purchases on 1 November 2026 it switches to the European order: pay first, refund after customs. That switch is the main news on this page.

The numbers differ by country, and so does what is left after fees. This page sets the official rules for Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan side by side, then works one example through with its assumptions stated. It names no refund company, because the official pages do not publish their fees. Checked 2 October 2026.

Germany

German Customs explains the scheme on its tax-free shopping page. Residents of a non-EU country can buy VAT-free in retail if they can prove their residence with their passport or another identity document, hold no residence permit for a stay of more than three months, and take the goods out in their own personal luggage within three months, meaning before the third month after the purchase has ended. Since 1 January 2020 only purchases of EUR 50.01 or more per receipt qualify. You pay the full price first, and the seller refunds the VAT once it has proof of export.

France

French Customs describes the procedure on its PABLO page for tourists. The purchases in one shop on one day must total more than EUR 100 including tax, a rule that applies since 1 January 2021. You must live in a non-EU state, be in France for under six months and be 16 or older. You present the goods and the sales slip together, before your luggage is checked in, at a PABLO kiosk near the customs counter or for a manual stamp, and the formality must be done before the end of the third month after the purchase month. The seller must receive the stamped copy within six months, and customs states that it does not handle the refunds.

Italy

The Customs and Monopolies Agency's OTELLO page sets a threshold of more than EUR 70 per invoice, VAT included, lowered from EUR 154.94 after 31 January 2024. The goods must be for personal or family use, carried in luggage, and leave the EU within three months of the invoice date, proved by a customs endorsement. If you leave the EU from another member state, the endorsed invoice must reach the Italian seller within four months of purchase. Invoices have been electronic since 1 September 2018, and the invoice copy you hold must show the OTELLO request code.

Spain

Spain's Tax Agency explains its DIVA system on a page updated on 23 September 2026. Residents of countries outside the EU, and of the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, can claim, and only for purchases by individuals for personal use. The Agency adds that the law refers to occasional purchases, so a habitual traveler may not qualify. You must leave the EU with the goods within three months of purchase. The shop issues an electronic reimbursement document, which you validate when you leave the EU. The page names no minimum purchase, and the agency's text on refunds says authorized entities can pay different amounts depending on the payment method you choose.

Japan

Japan's consumption tax is 10%, or 8% under the reduced rate, according to the National Tax Agency's guidance current at 1 April 2026. The Japan Tourism Agency says a non-resident foreigner who has been in Japan under six months can buy tax-free at a permitted store, and a Japanese national living abroad can too, with a certificate of residence abroad. Until purchases made on 31 October 2026, the minimum is ¥5,000 before tax at one store in one day and the shop removes the tax at the till.

From purchases on 1 November 2026 the refund system applies. You pay the tax-inclusive price. Within 90 days of purchase you show your passport at a kiosk at the airport or seaport, in the departure hall before your bags go in the hold. The kiosk shows a green result, which ends the check, or a red result, which sends you to a customs inspection area with all the goods. The minimum stays at ¥5,000 before tax per store per day. The special sealed packaging for consumables is abolished, but food, drink and cosmetics you have consumed cannot be refunded.

The EU states agree on the test: where you live, not your passport. German Customs states that nationality does not matter, with the example that a Swiss citizen who lives in Germany cannot shop tax-free there. For UK visitors, Germany says residents of Northern Ireland cannot, because it is treated as part of the EU customs territory, while residents of England, Scotland and Wales must prove their address with a UK driving licence, a council tax bill or a utility bill under 12 months old. France adds exclusions that matter to some readers: students and trainees staying six months or more a year, people who are moving to the EU and diplomats posted there. Spain proves residence by passport, and asks for extra evidence when the passport does not show an address, as with the United Arab Emirates.

Everyone is excluded from services. German Customs says hotel stays, restaurants and train tickets carry the VAT in full, and that car equipment and fuel are outside the scheme. Japan's rules cover non-residents only, and apply to goods taken out of the country.

The refund is the VAT already inside the price, less whatever a refund company keeps. None of the official pages gives that fee, so the examples below state their assumptions. Replace them with your receipt.

Assume a jacket costs EUR 300 at a French store, and the VAT on the receipt is one sixth of the price, which is what a 20% rate added to the pre-tax price works out to. The VAT is EUR 50. If the refund operator keeps a third as its fee, an assumption, you receive about EUR 33.33, or 11% of the price. If the seller refunds the full VAT directly, you receive EUR 50, or 16.7%.

In Japan, take a bag at ¥55,000, which is ¥50,000 plus 10% tax of ¥5,000. Under the refund system you pay ¥55,000 and get up to ¥5,000 back, about 9.1% of the price, less any fee charged by the shop or its refund company. A food item at the 8% rate costing ¥10,800 returns up to ¥800, about 7.4%. Japan's 10% rate is lower than the 20% assumed in the French example, so the same spend saves less.

Time and risk belong in the sum. The German form and the Japanese kiosk both require you to reach the customs point before you check bags. In France, absent presentation of the goods can bring cancellation of the slip and possibly a fine. In Japan, one missing item on a receipt voids that whole receipt's refund. For a small purchase near a minimum, the tax recovered can be worth less than the queue time.

In Europe the stamp is given at the last EU exit, so the stop depends on your route. German Customs gives an example: starting in Frankfurt and changing planes in Paris on a trip to the US, you have goods in checked luggage certified in Frankfurt before check-in and hand-luggage goods certified in Paris. Spain's leaflet likewise says to claim the refund in the last EU country of exit. Ask the airline staff at check-in to tag the bag, tell them goods need customs confirmation, and go to the customs desk with the receipt or form, passport and goods.

In Japan, go to the tax-free kiosk or customs area in the departure hall, hand the passport to the reader and carry every item you bought. The Japan Tourism Agency says that at Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha, travelers can also complete the procedure online through Visit Japan Web in the departure lobby area before security, instead of using the kiosk. If you connect from a domestic flight to an international one, the procedure is done at the last airport you leave from, and the agency warns that customs and airlines offer no compensation if you miss your flight because of the process.

Italy lowered its minimum from EUR 154.94 to EUR 70 for invoices after 31 January 2024, and France has applied a EUR 100 threshold since 1 January 2021. Germany has set the minimum at EUR 50.01 per receipt since 1 January 2020. Spain's Tax Agency made digital sealing mandatory for sales from 1 January 2019.

Japan's change is the largest and the nearest. The National Tax Agency, which administers the tax side, lists the refund system as starting on 1 November 2026 and has added detailed question-and-answer pages in 2026. The Japan Tourism Agency also notes that sending tax-free goods home separately by post, once an option, ended on 31 March 2025. Between now and 31 October 2026, purchases still come off at the till, so a shopper can use the old rules until then.

Decide before you shop whether the refund is worth a stop at customs, and keep the goods, receipts and passport together in the bag you carry through to the departure hall. For the rest of the cost picture, read money in Japan and the guide to tourist taxes in Europe, and check how much cash to carry if the goods travel with a large cash balance.