Non-EU visitors may get back Germany’s 19% VAT on goods exported within three months of purchase. The process has three parts: tell the retailer before you pay, collect the export papers, and have customs stamp them at your final exit from the EU. The retailer does not have to offer the refund, and it can refuse.
Residence comes first. The German Foreign Office describes the refund for non-EU residents, so check that you qualify before you plan around it. Once you do, the steps below apply in order.
VAT is included in German shop prices, so the tax inside a price is 19 ÷ 119 of the total, or 15.97%. That share is the ceiling on what the refund can be. Taking 19% off the total overstates it, as the callout below shows.
Before you pay
Tell the retailer before you pay that you will export the goods. The retailer then provides export papers, called the Ausfuhrbescheinigung, or a tax-free shopping check, depending on the system it uses. Ask which document you will receive, and check that it is completed before you leave the shop.
The refund is voluntary for the retailer. A shop can refuse even when you ask, and if it does, you pay the 19% VAT with no refund. Ask before you pay, not after the goods are packed. The Foreign Office page states no minimum purchase or operator fee, so get the actual refund quote and do the sums on that quote.
At the final exit from the EU
At departure, show customs the export papers, the original receipt, the goods, your passport and your travel ticket. The goods must be unused and in their original packaging. Customs examines the goods before it stamps the papers, so keep them in your carry-on, where you can reach them at the checkpoint.
The stamp is the export validation, and it happens at your final exit from the EU. If your route includes another EU airport before that exit, the check is still made at the final exit, so allow time for the examination there.
Keep the receipt with the goods rather than in a separate bag, so the two can be matched when customs examines them.
After you leave the EU
Once the papers are stamped, send them back to the store, or use the refund operator’s office or mail instructions. Check which route applies before you leave the airport, so you know where the stamped papers need to go.
Timing is part of eligibility. The goods must be exported within three months of purchase, so write the purchase date on the receipt you keep, and count forward from it before you book the trip.
Working out the refund
Start from the VAT-inclusive total. The VAT inside is the total minus the total divided by 1.19, which is the same as total × 19 ÷ 119. The VAT calculator does this division, but the steps below show what it is doing.
| Purchase total, VAT included | 1,190.00 |
|---|---|
| VAT inside: 1,190 − 1,190 ÷ 1.19 | 190.00 |
| Share of gross: 190 ÷ 1,190 | 15.97% |
| Refund after minimum and operator fees | Check the actual quote |
The last row is left open on purpose. The refund can only be worked out from the quote you are given. The 190.00 is the ceiling, and the quote sets what comes back from it.
If the quote returned the full 190.00, the effective price would be 1,000.00. An unmet minimum, or an operator fee, pushes the effective price back toward 1,190.00, so the quote decides where in that range you land.
The three-month limit in practice
The three-month limit runs from purchase to export, and it is a condition of the refund, not a guideline. Take a purchase made on 15 November 2026 as an illustration. Three months later is 15 February 2027, so the goods have to be exported by that date. Count with a margin rather than on the last day.
Goods that are not exported within the window cannot be refunded under this route, whatever else you have done correctly. The general tourist VAT refund flow sets out the same sequence of steps across countries, which helps when you compare Germany with another scheme.
The steps in order
The whole process is short, but each step depends on the one before it. Some steps cannot be done once you have left the shop, so work through this list before you leave the shop and again before you fly. Most items can be checked before you reach the airport, and the stamp is the only one that needs the customs office.
- Before paying, tell the retailer that you will export the goods, and ask for the export papers or the tax-free shopping check.
- Check the papers are completed and keep the original receipt with them.
- Note the purchase date, and make sure the goods leave the EU within three months of it.
- Keep the goods unused, in their original packaging, in your carry-on.
- At your final EU exit, show customs the papers, the receipt, the goods, your passport and your travel ticket, and wait for the examination and stamp.
- After you return, send the stamped papers back to the store, or follow the refund operator’s office or mail instructions.
Questions to settle before you leave the shop
Settle these with the retailer or operator before you leave, and keep the answers with the papers:
- Does this shop take part, and which document will I receive?
- Is there a minimum purchase for this refund, and does this purchase meet it?
- Which operator fees apply, and are they a percentage, a fixed amount or both?
- Where do the stamped papers go after I return home?
Then run the total through the tourist refund calculator with the quoted fees. For the paperwork itself, the documents to keep for refunds and customs article is the reference.