Please be aware that shops are not obliged to assist you in obtaining a VAT refund. You may therefore want to make an arrangement with the shop. If the shop is not willing to assist you, you will not be able to obtain a refund.
There are three things you must do to obtain a VAT refund:
1. Obtain an invoice from the shop
You must obtain an invoice from the shop. The invoice must contain the following details:
- Date of issue
- Name and address of the shop
- VAT registration no. of the shop
- Your name and address abroad
- Quantity, type and value of goods (sales price incl. VAT and the VAT amount).
When you are at the shop, you have to document that you live outside the EU by presenting your passport, ID card or other form of ID. Please note that you will not be getting a VAT refund, if you are shopping on behalf of somebody else.
2. Send or take the goods with you when departing from Denmark
You are entitled to a VAT refund whether you take the goods with you or send them home.
If you take the goods with you when departing from Denmark
If you carry the goods in your personal luggage when leaving the EU, you must ask the customs authorities in the EU country which you are leaving to stamp your invoice. In order to get the stamp, you must produce the following:
- Passport
- Ticket or itinerary
- Documentation for non-EU residency
- The goods.
The stamp must be obtained immediately before leaving Denmark on the date of departure.
If you travel from Denmark to another EU country before leaving the EU, the customs authorities in that EU country must stamp your invoice. This applies irrespective of whether you travel by plane, car, train or ferry.
If you are travelling via multiple airports, the customs authorities in the last airport before you leave the EU must stamp your invoice, unless you have checked in the goods for your final destination outside the EU. If this is the case, the Danish Customs Agency must stamp your invoice.
If you send the goods from Denmark
If you send the goods, you must obtain documentation or a certificate from the customs authorities or from another competent authority in your own country to document that the goods have been imported into the country.
3. Send the invoice to the shop
Once the invoice has been stamped, or you have obtained documentation or a certificate, you must send the invoice or the documentation/certificate to the shop where you bought the goods. The shop will then refund the VAT amount.