I understand that you can get a rebate at the airport before leaving Italy, but how is it done? Do you just show your receipts, or do you also have to show what you bought (so have to pack in a separate bag)? How much time does this take? We will be flying out of Naples on a Sunday in June, an 8 am flight.

Hi pkdof,

Generally doesn't take long. I just flew out of Venice a couple of weeks ago. Went to the Customs desk, gave the guy all four of my forms. He stamped them and I put them in the envelopes and dropped them in the mailbox. Took maybe 5 minutes because there were a few other people ahead of me. Although with your earlier departure, you may have to wait for the customs/tax free desk to open before completing this.

I have done this many times and have never waited long. And I have never been asked to show my goods before although I tend to have the more expensive stuff handy just in case.

The best set-up was in Paris in April. There was a machine where one could stamp their own forms and a mailbox right there. That took all of 30 seconds. Wish all the airports would do this. Hope this helps.

Dana

Thanks, Dana. Where did you get the forms?

The merchant usually does the forms for you and also check because sometimes there are spending limits, like you have to spend a certain amount of euros in one place to get the refund. Not every shop will do it for every purchase.

Ditto crefloors. The merchant has always done their procedure for the forms...they have a book of forms with their carbon copies. They attach a copy of the receipt, etc. Most places know what they're doing. I think the minimum purchase is 155 euros now. So if you spend more than that at one store, in one transaction, you should be able to take advantage of this.

Dana

I remember placing the forms in a drop box at Malpensa and receiving the credit on my AMEX within a month.

bookmarking - thanks for the useful information!

This link might help as well.

http://tinyurl.com/2v4euw

Would just second suggestion that you double check hours of customs desk. Some them don't open until 8 am [although I don't know about Naples], so you might have to have a plan B.

Rick Steve's article says you need to show the store your passport. Do you really carry around your passport? We have color copies, would that be sufficient?

Some do require your passport. Most didn't on this last trip. I just had to fill in my passport number at my own convenience. Some like to do it in the store so they have it on their paperwork. A color copy should suffice as long as the number is legible. Most employees didn't actually want to inspect the passport...you should be fine.

Dana

All good advice so far. However, the last time we were in Florence, we went into a Thomas Cook bank (near the Ponte Vecchio) and got the refund on the spot, with no fees. Only hitch is that they'll refund you only in your home country's money.