How travelers can get money back

Travelers to Europe may be leaving money on the table when they buy goods there.

I learned this during a recent trip to Italy. My girlfriend, who bought a pair of shoes in Venice, was able to claim a refund on the value-added tax she paid on the purchase.

She ultimately got back 17 euros (US$20) on a total purchase of 155 euros (US$181).

Refunds of value-added tax, known as VAT, can be worth a “chunk of money” for U.S. travelers to Europe, depending on what they buy and in which country they purchase the item, said Sofia Markovich, a travel advisor and founder of Sofia’s Travel.

Getting a few extra dollars back after a European vacation may help somewhat defray the higher cost of airfare resulting from the Iran war, and a euro-U.S. dollar exchange rate that has become less favorable in recent years.

However, we would have missed out had the Italian shopkeeper not asked whether we wanted the paperwork necessary to claim the refund later, which we did with relative ease at an airport kiosk in Rome.

Many times, stores don’t flag the option for customers, experts said.

“You have to remember to get [the paperwork] in the shop, because not every shop will remind you of it,” Markovich said. “You personally have to be proactive about it.”

For some, the additional hassle — which generally includes an extra stop at the airport — may not be worth it for lower-value items, said Sally French, a travel expert at NerdWallet.

“It’s a nice-to-have, but I’m not getting to the airport early to save $10,” she said.

VATs are the most common type of consumption tax in the world, used by more than 170 countries worldwide.

European nations levy a range of VAT rates, which can also vary by product.

Standard VAT rates range from 8.1% in Switzerland to 27% in Hungary, according to the Tax Foundation.

Spain, for example, has a standard VAT rate of 21% but carries a lower rate for certain items, like 10% for sunglasses and 4% for books and magazines, according to Global Blue, a payments company that helps facilitate VAT refunds.

However, not all purchases qualify for a refund, experts said.

For one, refunds are generally only meant for merchandise, and not for certain categories like hotels and meals, experts said.

Many countries also impose a minimum value on purchases to be eligible.

“Typically, you must ring up the minimum at a single retailer — you can’t add up purchases from various shops to reach the required amount — so if you’re doing a lot of shopping, you’ll benefit from finding one spot where you can buy big,” Rick Steves, a travel…