duty free from the retailer
 

i learnt about this too late on my last trip and somehow i have forgotten how to make sure i get duty free on my shopping in europe.

otehr than making sure i have a passport, then what else do i ahve to worry about to make sure i pay tax free?

Hi bh,

You hae to purchase about 175Eworth of goods at one shop.

You have to get the proper forms.

You have to bring the forms and the merchandise to a Customs agent at the airport from which you will depart the EU.

Some of the larger department stores have instant refund desks.

Does anyone know if any of the department stores in Paris have instant refund desks?

Yes

Of course, it's not really the full refund, as places that give you a refund instantly take a commission for doing that (not sure how much, but you can ask--I think 3-5 pct). This would beat dealing with it at the airport, in my opinion.

The company that does that is called Global Refund www.globalrefund.com

In Paris, they have desks in Galeries Lafayette, Samaritaine and Mediolos stores. I haven't used them as I've never spent that much money in one place, but I think those offices will actually give you cash (minus commission) for any detaxe forms you have, not only from those particular stores. I think you still have to do the stamping etc at the airport from customs, but maybe one part is saved in time. If not, then there wouldn't be any point to doing it and having them take a cut.

If you don't get the forms stamped and mailed back to them properly, they will charge your credit card for the money you took.

ok, now that all seems familiar to me. I think it all seemed like it wasn't worth it to handle it in the shops but then when i got to customs i think i must have found that the line was too long and didn't bother at all.