I failed to read the details on this website or in Rick's book regarding receiving TVA refunds from Italy. We arrived in the Rome airport for departure early in the a.m. before the Global Blue desk was open. I failed to read that we needed a customs stamp on the receipts/documents for the refund, so we arrived home before I tried to move forward with completing the paperwork to send in. That's when I realized we would likely be out several hundred dollars in taxes due to my lack of knowledge (no customs stamp). I Googled the topic to see what I could find...someone suggested going to Notary Public for a stamp and then submitting. I figured it was worth a shot, because most likely we were not going to receive the refund anyway. Low and behold, I received my credit card statement yesterday (about 2 months after mailing the documents to Global Blue) and they had indeed refunded a significant portion of our taxes (I'm assuming minus a processing fee). So, all hope is not lost if you make the same mistake as I did!
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
TVA??? Are you sure you're not speaking of VAT (Value Added Tax)?
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
The purpose of the customs stamp is to certify the goods left the EU and that they were unused. I am surprised you got away with a stamp from the "Notary Public". Did the Notary Public view the goods and certify that they left the EU intact and unused? Possibly the repayment office didn't look to closely at the stamp and you got lucky.
VAT = Value-added tax
TVA = Taxe sur la valeur ajoutée (French)
IVA = Imposta sul valore aggiunto (Italian)
MwST = Mehrwertsteuer (German)
Receipts will show the abbreviation in whatever language they are written in.