For travellers who ordinarily reside outside the European Community, value added tax (VAT) may be deducted from the price of the goods you purchase in France. Duty-free goods are those you carry in your baggage.
Who is eligible for tax refunds?

Who is eligible for tax refunds ?

Any person (aged 15 and over) residing in a non-EC country on the date of purchase and visiting France for less than 6 months. You must be able to prove this at the time of purchase by showing

    if you are a foreigner: proof of identity
    if you are French and reside outside the EC: a consular registration card or any other official document certifying residence outside the EC

Who is not eligible for tax refunds?

Residents of an EC Member State · Residents of the French overseas departments (DOM) · Embassy and similar staff, students and trainees, migrant workers (even if they are returning permanently to their country) who reside in France more than six months a year.

Food products (solid and liquid), · Tobacco, · Medication, · Weapons; however, Category 5 weapons (hunting and sporting firearms), Category 6 weapons (bladed weapons) and Category 7 weapons (fairground and exhibition firearms) are eligible for tax refunds, · Unmounted gemstones, · Cultural goods, · Means of transport for private use: cars, boats, planes, as well as their spare parts and equipment. However, car radios and cassette players, as well as sporting goods such as bicycles and windsurfing boards are eligible for tax refunds. · Purchases of a commercial nature (in large quantities for example).
How do I get the tax refund?

At the time of purchase, the seller gives you an export sales slip (consisting of three sheets: two pink and one green), which you sign and have stamped by customs, before the end of the third month following the month in which the sale was made, on leaving the EC region. · You present the goods and the three sheets to the EC exit customs. People travelling by international train must have the tax refund slips stamped during the journey or at the border station by the customs service.

What is the procedure to follow?

Before entering the restricted zone and passing through the screening checkpoints, please follow this procedure:

Declare your goods and get a stamp at the customs office in Arrivals hall.
Get the tax refund at a bureau de change, either in the landside zone near the customs office or in the restricted zone near the boarding gates.

For further information

  • For air freight Tel. : (33) 4 93 21 37 77
  • For allowances and various formalities relating to goods transported in hand luggage Tel. : (33) 4 93 21 37 84 - Tel. : (33) 4 93 21 37 85

Third countries: countries other than those of the EC, the overseas territories of the French Republic, the Channel Islands, the Principality of Andorra, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Mayotte, the Faroe Islands, the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, San Marino and the Vatican.

EC Member States: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom (including Isle of Man), Sweden.

More information on the French Customs website