Ellen Creager|Detroit Free Press
A couple weeks ago, I bought $220worth ofgifts at a store in Sorrento, Italy.
The clerk punched buttons on the cash register. A receipt as long as my armprinted out.
"This is your form," he said, rolling up the tape. He explained that all I had to do was takeit to a kiosk at the Rome Leonardo da Vinci (Fiumicino)Airportto get my 27-euroVAT sales tax refund before flying home.
"If you cannot find a kiosk, get it stamped bycustoms," he said. "And here," he pressed an envelope into my hand, "this explains."
I thanked him, then returned to my hotel. The form looked simple enough: my name, address and passport information. The envelope, "Global Blue: How to Get Your Tax Refund," explained how foreign travelers to European Union nations can easilyget a refund of sales tax (calledValue Added Tax, or VAT) they paid on purchases as cash or credit.
We're not talking pennies, here, either.VATsales tax in most of Europe is about 20%, built into the price of the purchase. If you buy a lot of gifts, you can get a pretty good refund.
So I skimmed the instructions. No problem. I'd get my money at the airport.
Not so fast
Terminal 5 at Rome's airport is where North American flights depart. There is a lot of security. I passedthrough one checkpoint, then checked in with the airline and gave themmyluggage. Then Iwent through Customs and more airport security. Then Igot bused to Boarding AreaG.
That is when I started looking around for the kiosk that would give me my refund. No luck. I asked someone. And asked someone else.
Finally, an Alitalia agent pointed to a sign andescalator. "Down there at (boarding area)H," she said.
I went down the escalatorand realized that I would have to get to H on atrain, then go back through security again, and who knows where I would end up and how long it would take.
But no problem, I thought. I'll just mail in the formwhen I get back to Detroit.
Oops, too late
Of course, you know where this is going. If you do not have a customs stamp on your receipt, there is no refund. And if you are already at your gate at Rome's airport, there is no timely way to return to customs to get your receipt stamped. And if you checked your luggage with the gifts in them before you get to customs,the customs officerwill not stamp it anyway because hedid not see proof of the gifts.
In addition, it turns out that Terminal 5 does have aVAT refund desk —not a kiosk —but it is after check-in andbefore customs, and you must know where it is so you don't accidentally skip it.
At any rate, I flew out of Italy without getting a stamp or refund and feeling pretty stupid.
My advice to travelers? If you plan to buy a lot of gifts in Europe for which you could get a tax refund, read up on the logistics before leaving home.The rules will make your head spin, no matter what country you're visiting.
For Italy, study and memorize this map that shows where the VAT refund counter is at the airport's Terminal 5:www.globalblue.com/customer-services/tax-free-shopping/refund-points/italy/rome-fiumicino-terminal-5/.
And if you manage to make it there, I'd really appreciate it if you could try to get my27 euros for me.
Detroit Free Press Travel Writer Ellen Creager:ecreager@freepress.com.
