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Tax Refund Information

French Consulates General in Canada

French Consulates General in the U.S.

Tax Refund Information

As a visitor to France you can claim a tax refund (value added tax or VAT) for eligible goods you take home.

I. Who is eligible?

You do not qualify for a tax refund if:

- you are a resident of the European Union (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France; including the Overseas departments of Guadeloupe, Guiana, Martinique and Réunion; Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K., including the isle of Man.

- you live in France more than six months in the year (e.g. as a diplomatic agent or member of the administrative and technical staff of an Embassy, as a student, a trainee, an immigrant worker, etc…).

You qualify for a tax refund if:

- you are a resident of a "third-country" (not belonging to the European Union) such as Canada or the U.S. Fall, for instance, into this category: Andorra, the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, the Channel Islands, the Faroe Islands, the French Overseas territories of French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Wallis & Futuna, the French territorial collectivities of Mayotte and Saint-Pierre & Miquelon, San Marino and the Vatican City.

- you were 15 years old or over when you purchased the goods.

- you are visiting France for less than six months.

II. What are the eligible goods?

There is no refund for tax you pay on:

- food products and beverages;

- tobacco products;

- medicine;

- firearms (except smooth bore sporting and hunting guns and small hand-guns for target-shooting or for exhibition purposes);

- unset precious stones;

- cultural property;

- automobiles, motorcycles, boats, planes, as well as their parts and accessories (but are eligible: car radios and cassette players as well as sports items such as bicycles and windsurfing boards);

- purchases of a commercial nature (e.g. in such quantities that it is reasonable to believe they are not intended for your personal use).

As far as eligible goods are concerned:

- the value of purchases from any single store, tax included, must reach at least €175;

- all the goods must be taken back with you, in your carry-on luggage, when you leave France;

- all tax refunds must be claimed within six months of purchasing the goods.

III. How to get your tax refund?

• at the store:

  You should check with the store, prior to your purchase, that it is participating in the tax free scheme (not all stores are).

  If so, you will have to prove that you are not a resident of the European Union and that you are 15 years old or over. This may be done, if you are not a French citizen, by showing any kind of legal identification in use in your country or, if you are a French national, by showing a consular ID or any other official document attesting that you are not a resident of the European Union.

  You will then be issued a Retail Export Form ("bordereau de détaxe") that you must sign and which must be endorsed by Customs within three months of the purchase, when you leave the European Union.

• at Customs:

  - if you are leaving the European Union from a French port of entry:

  You should present the Retail Export Form as well as the goods purchased under the tax free scheme. Customs will retain a copy of the form and you will be handed back a copy, endorsed by Customs, which you are advised to retain in case of any possible dispute with the store.

  - if you are leaving the European Union from a port of entry in another Member State:

  You should make sure that the local Customs Service endorses the Retail Export Form and gives them back to you. Upon arrival in your country, you should mail a copy of the form to the French store and keep the "customer" copy in case of any possible dispute with the store.

  
  WARNING

  Do not forget to keep the goods with you at all times when you apply for Customs endorsement of the Retail Export Form at the point of departure from the European Union.
  Customs officers may want to check them.

  You should allow ample time (for instance, at least two hours before the time required for checking-in at the airport) to apply for Customs endorsement of the Retail Export Form. At Paris (CDG and Orly) or at Nice-Côte d’Azur Airports, for example, there may be long lines of travelers waiting to get this endorsement, especially during the tourist season.

  And if you fail to get through this formality before you leave the European Union, it will be burdensome - and expensive - for you to claim the tax refund when you are back home (see further on).

  
  

• at home:

  You should receive, within a reasonable spell of time, the amount of refunded tax directly from the store, payed according to your instructions, given on the Retail Export Form (check mailed to your address, bank transfer to your checking account or to your credit card account, etc…). If you don't receive your tax refund, you have to contact the store and not the French Customs.

  Some stores may deduct the tax from the price of goods when you purchase them. They do so under their own responsibility and you are still required to apply for Customs endorsement of your Retail Export Form upon leaving the European Union, even if you did not pay tax on the goods.

May I still claim the tax refund if the Retail Export Form has not been endorsed by Customs upon my leaving the European Union?

You may. The process is time-consuming, may turn out to be more expensive than the amount of tax refund that you are claiming.

You have to address within 6 months after the date of purchase of your goods a request for a tax refund to:

The French Customs Attaché
Embassy of France
4101 Reservoir Road NW
WASHINGTON D. C 20007
USA

This request MUST be supported by the following documents:

1- A copy of your passeport

2- A copy of your travel ticket or your boarding pass

3- An "attestation de présentation des marchandises" issued by a French Consulate. In order to get this document you must go to the Consulate with the goods you bought, your passeport and your plane ticket
OR
-The US Customs or Canadian Customs declaration you made for those goods when entering your country

4- A letter with exhaustive explanations of the reasons why you were not able to get your form stamped when leaving France

5- The Retail Export Form

Your application will be sent to the competent authority in France.

If your application is held as justified, you will be mailed an endorsed "customer" copy of the Retail Export Form. The Customs will mail the other copy to the store, which will, in turn, refund you the VAT.

French Consulates General in Canada

Moncton & Halifax
NB; NS; PEI; Qc & NF east of 60° longitude

Consulat général de France à Moncton & Halifax
777, rue Main
C.P. 1109
Moncton NB, E1C 1E9
tel: (1) 506-857-4191
fax: (1) 506-858-8169

Montreal
South-western part of Qc

Consulat général de France à Montréal
1, place Ville-Marie
26ème étage
bureau 2601
Montréal
Qc, H3B 4S3
tel: (1) 514-878-4385
fax: (1) 514-878-3981

Ottawa
The Ontarian part of the national capital

Service consulaire de l’ambassade de France au Canada
42, promenade Sussex
Ottawa
ON, K1M 2C9
tel: (1) 613-789-1795
fax: (1) 613-562-3735

Quebec
Northern and Eastern (but only west of 60° longitude) parts of Qc
NF west of 60° longitude

Consulat général de France à Québec
Maison Kent
25, rue Saint-LouisQuébec
Qc, G1R 3Y8
tel: (1) 418-694-2294
fax: (1) 418-694-2297

Toronto
ON (except Ottawa); MB; SK; NW

Consulat général de France à Toronto
130 Bloor Street West
Suite #400
Toronto
ON, M5S 1N5
tel: (1) 416-925-8041
fax: (1) 416-925-3076

Vancouver
BC; AB; YT Consulat général de France à Vancouver

1100-1130 West Pender Street
Vancouver
BC, V6E 4A4
tel: (1) 604-681-4345
fax: (1) 604-681-4287

French Consulates General in the U.S.

ATLANTA
AL; GA; MS; NC; SC; TN

Consulat général de France à Atlanta
3475 Piedmont Rd NE,
Suite #1840
Atlanta, GA 30305
tel: (1) 404-495-1660
fax: (1) 404-880-9408

BOSTON
ME; MA; NH; RI; VT

Consulat général de France à Boston
Park Square Building
Suite #750
31 Saint James Avenue
Boston, MA 02116
tel: (1) 617-542-7374
fax: (1) 617-542-8054

CHICAGO
IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; MI; MN; MO; NB; ND; SD; WI

Consulat général de France à Chicago
205 North Michigan Avenue
Suite #3700
Chicago, IL 60611
tel: (1) 312-327-5200
fax: (1) 312-327-5201

HOUSTON
AR; OK; TX

Consulat général de France à Houston
777 Post Oak Boulevard
Suite #600
Houston, TX 77056
tel: (1) 713-528-2799
fax: (1) 713-528-2911

LOS ANGELES
AZ; South CA; CO; NM; South NV

Consulat général de France à Los Angeles
Suite #30010990 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90024
tel: (1) 310-235-3200
fax: (1) 310-312-0704

MIAMI
FL; PR; USVIalso: Anguilla (UK); Bahamas; BVI (UK); Cayman Islands (UK); Montserrat (UK); Turks & Caicos (UK)

Consulat général de France à Miami
1 Biscayne Tower
Suite #1710
2 South Biscayne Boulevard
Miami, FL 33131
tel: (1) 305-372-9798
fax: (1) 305-372-9549

NEW ORLEANS
LA

Consulat général de France à la Nouvelle-Orléans
1340 Poydras Street
Suite #1710
New Orleans, LA 70112
tel: (1) 504-523-5772
fax: (1) 504-523-5725

NEW YORK
CT; NJ; NYalso: Bermuda (UK)

Consulat général de France à New York
934 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10021
tel: (1) 212-606-3688
fax: (1) 212-606-3620

SAN FRANCISCO
AK; North CA; HI; North NV; OR; UT; WA; WYalso: AS; FSM; Guam; Marshall Islands; Northern Mariana Islands; Palau

Consulat général de France à San Francisco
540 Bush Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
tel: (1) 415-397-4330
fax: (1) 415-433-8357

WASHINGTON D.C.
DE; MD; OH; PA; VA; WV

Consulat général de France à Washington
4101 Reservoir Road, NW Washington, DC 20007
tel: (1) 202-944-6195
fax: (1) 202-944-6148