What to buy in Rome
Non-EU residents can reclaim VAT on invoices over 70 euro, but the digital exit visa has to be applied by customs before the goods leave the EU.
The refund is open to travellers resident outside the EU where the value of the goods on each invoice is above 70 euro, and the goods must leave EU territory within the third month following the date the invoice was issued.
The invoice has to be electronic and carry a request code confirming it was transmitted to OTELLO, the digital tax-free system running since September 2018. Customs applies a digital exit visa through OTELLO at the point of departure from the EU, can ask to inspect the goods there, and the visa can be checked online using the request code.
Customs offices never pay the money out. The refund is handled either as direct relief at the point of sale or as a later reimbursement by an authorised tax-free intermediary, which deducts its fee from the VAT.
Buying a counterfeit exposes the purchaser to an administrative fine of 100 to 7,000 euro, settled immediately at 200 euro, so the street stall outside the station is a legal risk rather than a bargain.
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