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Customs and tax refunds

Déclaration en douane et détaxe

For travellers whose main place of residence is outside the EU, value added tax (VAT) may be deducted from the price of the goods you buy in France.Duty-free goods are those which can be transported in your luggage.

Service for passengers: self-service tax refund kiosks at Aéroport Nice Côte d'Azur.

The Aéroports de la Côte d'Azur limited company and the government tax authority have introduced self-service tax refund kiosks for passengers at Nice Côte d'Azur airport.

Unique in Europe, this new service - known by its French acronym PABLO (programme for processing tax refund slips by optical scanning) – has been introduced to make it quicker and easier for travellers to claim tax refunds before departure.

Any passenger who has received tax refund slips with a bar-code and a Pablo logo, can validate them on one of the interactive Pablo stations, located in the arrivals of each terminal.

More info on self-service tax refund kiosks here.

For further information

Tax refunds : Contact Interchange +33 (0)4 93 21 74 18 (Terminal 1) or +33 (0)4 93 21 74 07 (Terminal 2)
For air freight : +33 (0)4 93 21 37 77
For exemption and the different formalities pertaining to transporting goods as hand-baggage : (33) 4 93 21 37 84 / (33) 4 93 21 37 85
Third countries :Third countries other than those of the EU, the French republic 'outre-mer' territories, The Channel Islands, the principality of Andorra, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Mayotte, Faroe Islands, the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, San Marino and the Vatican.
EU member states : Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom (including the Isle of Man), Sweden.

More information about french customs here

Frequently asked questions

Who is eligible ?

Those persons of (15 years or over) living in a third country of the EU at the date of purchase and on visit in France for less than 6 months.

You must be able to prove this eligibility at the moment of purchase by showing :

an identity card if you are a foreign national,
a registration card issued by the consulate, or any other official document, certifying residence outside the EU, if you are a French national and living outside the EU.

Who cannot benefit from duty free ?

those resident in a EU member state
those resident in (French) 'départements d’outre-mer' (DOM).
diplomatic personnel and associate personnel, students and trainees, immigrant workers (even if they are returning to their country (of origin)) who are residents in France more than six months a year

Which goods cannot be free of duty ?

Foods (solids and liquids), tobacco, medicine, unmounted precious stones, cultural goods,
weapons; however, 5th category (shot guns & air rifles), 6th category (cold steel) and 7th category (various rifles) weapons can be free of duty,
private means of transport : automobiles, aircraft and relevant spare parts and equipment However, car radios and cassette players, sports equipment such as bicycles and windsurfs may be free of duty,
purchases likely to be used for commercial purposes (for example, items in a large quantity).

How to qualify for duty free ?

During purchase, the salesperson gives you an export sales document (consisting of three leaves : two pink ones and one green one) which you sign and have counter-signed by customs before the end of the third month following the one during which the purchase was made and this, on leaving the EU.
You declare the goods, with the three-leaved document, at the customs office on leaving the EU. Those travelling on cross-border trains must have the duty-free documents counter-signed either by the customs officials during the trip, or at the border station.

Procedures to follow at the airport ?

Before passing through the security checkpoints and entering the departure lounge, please follow this procedure:

Declare your goods and get a stamp from the customs office or from a tax refund terminal in the Arrivals hall (Terminal 1 or Terminal 2)
Get your VAT refunded at an Interchange bureau de change in the public area near the customs office.