General information on VAT refunds for travellers

Yes, as long as you reside in a country that does not belong to the European Union, or are resident in the Canary Islands, or in the Autonomous Cities of Ceuta and Melilla, and also meet the following requirements:

• Tourists who prove their identity and residence outside the European Union at the time of purchase.
• The purchases are documented on an invoice and on an electronic refund document (DER) sent to the Tax Agency.
• The purchases must have been made on the Spanish mainland or in the Balearic Islands, excluding purchases made in the Canary Islands or in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
• The goods must not constitute a commercial shipment, i.e. they must have been acquired on an occasional basis and intended for the traveller’s personal use or that of their family members or offered as gifts and which, by their nature and quantity, cannot be presumed to be the object of a commercial activity.
• The goods purchased must actually leave the territory of the European Community within three months of the date of supply.

Likewise, deliveries of goods intended for the equipping or supplying of any means of transport for private use are excluded from this regime (e.g. Tires and fuel).

For the refund of VAT fees borne by non-resident travelers in the territory of the European Union, these must have previously been passed on and documented in invoices. The seller must also submit an electronic refund document (DER) to the Tax Agency.

In Spain there are two systems for the recovery of fees previously paid by non-resident travellers. These two systems are freely chosen by the traveller at any time:

• Directly through the shop. The traveller sends the electronic refund document endorsed by Customs to the supplier, who will refund the full amount charged within fifteen days by cheque, bank transfer, credit card or other means of proof of reimbursement. The period that the traveler has to send DER endorsed by Customs to the supplier is the general four-year limitation period for the supplier's right to rectification of the passed-on fees. After this time, the supplier has no obligation to return the VAT .
• Through Collaborating Entities authorized by the AEAT . In this case, travellers shall present the electronic refund documents endorsed by Customs to these entities, which shall pay the input VAT on the acquisition of the goods minus the corresponding authorised commission. The traveller must agree to such a return. Subsequently, the Collaborating Entities will send the electronic refund documents endorsed by Customs to the suppliers who will make the corresponding reimbursement, in this case in full.

The reimbursement of VAT to travellers by the Collaborating Entity shall be made by cash, credit card, cheque or bank transfer.

Travellers must have their usual place of residence outside the territory of the European Union. As regards evidentiary documents, there is freedom of proof. Habitual residence outside the European Union may be proven by any means of proof admissible by law. It is the traveller who must prove by any legally valid means of proof that he or she is actually a resident outside the European Union. For example, you can provide a passport, an identity document, a certificate of registration in another country, a certificate of registration in the Consular Registry of Spanish residents abroad, Green Card or any other resident card from a state outside the European Union.

Citizens of the European Union (i.e. nationals of a Member State with a passport of that Member State) who reside permanently in a non-EU country may also benefit from the exemption provided for in Article 21. 2 of the VAT Law and can request a refund of the tax. This is also the case for Spanish diplomatic and consular staff residing in countries outside the European Union.

The seller will always verify the identity of the traveller and his/her residence outside the European Union at the time of sale. This obligation must be materially fulfilled by the seller in all cases and at the time and place in which the purchase is made.

Mention should be made, at this point, of Judgment number 1687/2022 of the Supreme Court, Contentious-Administrative Chamber, Second Section. The Court considers that: “ (…) in order to prove the habitual residence of the purchaser, for the purposes of applying the exemption for the export of goods under the travellers regime provided for in article 147.7 of Council Directive 2006/112/ EC of 28 November 2006 and 21.2.A of Law 37/1992, on Value Added Tax, it is not sufficient to provide a passport, as provided for in article 9.2.Bb) of Royal Decree 1624/1992, of 29 December, approving the Value Added Tax Regulations, when the habitual residence or domicile of the recipient of the supplies of goods is not stated therein, in which case it is necessary to additionally present other means of proof that prove the habitual residence of the traveller. In any case, it is up to the seller or supplier of the goods, subject to VAT, to verify whether the document presented by the traveler to be able to enjoy the exemption contains information on the traveler's habitual residence or domicile, and may, where appropriate, be said document, the passport, the identity document or any other means of proof admitted by law. "

The requirements established by the VAT regulations in order to enjoy this tax benefit must be met at the time of accrual of the same (time of making the goods available to the travellers), so habitual residence outside the European Union must be a fact at that time.

To the effects of this law, goods carried by travellers will not be considered a commercial shipment as long as they are an occasional purchase, for the traveller’s personal use, that of their family, or to be offered as gifts, or as long as their nature and number does not lead to conclude they are aimed at a commercial activity..

The rule does not determine any quantitative threshold above which goods are considered to constitute commercial dispatch. It will therefore have to be analysed on a case-by-case basis.

If the traveller chooses to obtain reimbursement directly from the supplier, the supplier shall reimburse the full amount charged within fifteen days by cheque, bank transfer, credit card or other means of proof of reimbursement.

If the traveler opts for the refund of the VAT installments through a Collaborating Entity authorized by the Tax Agency, the VAT refund to travelers will be made in cash, card credit, check or bank transfer. When the refund is made in cash, it shall necessarily be made in euros.

The mechanism provided for the refund of Value Added Tax to travellers must be understood as being directed at goods purchased by them and which are to be transported “in the personal luggage” of the travellers, and therefore not applicable to other cases of goods that are transported to a third territory outside the personal luggage of the travellers. Likewise, goods intended for equipment are excluded from the exemption from VAT (example: tyres, fuel) or refuelling of any means of transport for private use.

Only goods purchased which actually leave the territory of the European Union are eligible for reimbursement. The exemption does not therefore apply to services of any kind (accommodation, car rental, catering, etc.) or to goods that are consumed in whole or in part within the territory of the Union (drinks, chocolates, perfumes).

It is important to note that the electronic refund document (DER) is either endorsed or not in its entirety, so that if only some of the goods included in a DER actually leave, the condition of effective departure of all the goods is not met and, consequently, it will not be validated.

If goods are acquired which can be consumed, in order to benefit from the exemption and be eligible for a refund of input VAT, these goods must leave the territory of the European Union in the same state as when they were acquired.

The VAT exemption for the supply of goods under the traveller's system excludes the supply of goods for the purpose of equipment (example: tyres, fuel) or refuelling of any means of transport for private use.

The seller must issue the corresponding invoice and also an electronic refund document (ERD), both at the time of purchase. The DER is available on the electronic headquarters of the State Agency for Tax Administration, where the acquired assets and, separately, the corresponding tax will be recorded.

The following traveler data must be entered into the electronic refund document: identity, country of residence, date of birth and passport number of the traveler.

The collaborating entity or the selling store must verify the visa of the DER , as a prerequisite to making the refund. It must also inform the Tax Agency that the refund has been made.

The copy of the form delivered ( DER ) to travelers will have a CSV (secure verification code) with which the traveler will always be able to know the processing status of their request for the return of VAT , at all times. By consulting the procedures on this page.

It is important to note that the DER provided to the traveler must contain a barcode or QR code for later reading at the time of stamping (this requirement is not met by the copy of the computer screen with which the form is issued to the Tax Agency).

It is a condition for the refund of input VAT on purchases of goods by non-resident travellers in the territory of the European Union that the goods actually leave the territory of the Union within a maximum period of three months following the purchase. VAT Directive 2006/112/ EC states more clearly that goods must be transported "outside the Community before the end of the third month following that in which the delivery is made" .

Example:

• Deadline: 5 May (confirmed by date of invoice)
• Effective date of departure: Before 31 August.

Spanish invoicing regulations allow entrepreneurs and professionals to issue summary invoices. Thus, different transactions carried out on different dates for the same recipient may be included in a single invoice, provided that they have been carried out within the same calendar month.

Where the sale of the goods being exported corresponds to a summary invoice, the three-month period shall run from the date of the latter document.

The traveler may request a refund of the VAT incurred on their purchases in Spain, provided that they meet all the legally required requirements and that the electronic refund document (DER), which proves their purchase, is correctly endorsed by the customs office of departure.

The maximum period for requesting a refund is the general four-year limitation period, coinciding with the period of the supplier's right to rectification of the charged amounts. After this time the supplier is not obliged to refund the VAT.