[Help] Getting Tax Refund in Germany Munich Airport

This is our personal experience that we encountered in Germany Munich International Airport, hope that it can help friends who will be visiting Europe for the first time or departing from the Munich International Airport.

To note that all Tax refund procedure in Europe is pretty much the same, there are currently 2 companies that are handling the VAT refunds, Global Blue and Premier Tax-free.

 TAX REFUND- Step by Step guide

Step 1- Do Your Airline Check-in

Proceed to the airline counter to check in your luggage first, inform the staff that you have tax-free items inside your luggage and proceed to the customs clearance. The check-in Staff will issue you the boarding pass and return the luggage to you. If you do not have any tax free items in your check-in baggage, it will be sent off from the belt to the aircraft.

For hand-carry luggage, you can proceed to the customs clearance once check-in and the airline staff issue the boarding pass.

The simple guide shown at the airport:

Step 2 – Get your Tax Free Validation Stamp

The Customs clearance/export certificate section, it is at level 4 Gate B besides the Departure security check.

(No Stamp = No Refund)

The customs clearance section:

Operating hour:

06:00 – 21:00 (Daily)

Get these things ready before you approach the counter:

Little tips:

All your goods or products should be packed in a hand-carry bag. For small items it can be placed inside a transparent bag, it will be easier for the customs officer to see it. And if you are holding onto large item inside your luggage, prepare the items at the top of your inner luggage once it is opened. Don’t start digging all your goods at the counter, as it is a waste of time for you and will hold back the queue.

Step 3 – Get Your Tax Refund

Kindly note that you will have to go through this procedure separately if you have 2 different tax-free forms (Global Blue, Premier Tax-Free).

Global Blue- Tax-free forms

• The Global Blue desk is just right in front of the Customs clearance, at departure Gate B. The staff at the counter will check your stamped form and receipts and ask if you want cash or a credit to your credit card.
• Even though lots of people online would suggest you take the cash, but the staff at the counter will encourage you to get the refund credit back to your credit card and in a way this is actually not that bad as you will not incur the handling fee that will be charged for cash. From what we understand from the staff is that if you get to the counter and request to credit back to your credit card it will take within 5 days. Which is what we did, and I got it back in less than 3 days.
• As for tourists/travellers who mail it or drop the tax refund form into the letterbox it will take 3 weeks for the refund sent to the credit card, bank account or in the form of cheque and 10 days for refunds sent to Alipay account.

Opening Hours:

Mon-Sun:

06:30~22:00

To Note:

-Cash/ Credit card refund limit – 1500 EUR / Form (Max)

– Credit card refunds are not subject to this fee.

– A handling fee for CASH refund is charged for each Tax-Free Form.

-Alipay mailbox available.

Premier Tax-Free- Tax-free Form

• Reise Bank the refund point for premier tax-free in Germany.
• Refund are processed within 30 days upon receiving your original export-validated Tax-Free form
• For the credit card procedures in place by credit card companies, refunds generally appear on your bank statement in the month following the transfer of your refund amount from Premier Tax-Free to your bank.
• Getting the cashback will be easier and faster with Premier Tax-free, than waiting for the money to credit back to your credit card

Where (Reise Bank)?

Operating hours

Munich Airport, Nordallee 25, Terminal 1, Level 03, Gates A, B, Munich, 85356

Mon

06:30 ~14:15

Tue-Sun

06:30~21:30

Munich Airport, Nordallee 25, Terminal 1, Level 03, Gates C, D, E, Munich, 85356

Mon – Sun

 06:45~21:00

To Note:

-Cash/ Credit card  refund limit – 1500 EUR / Form (Max)

-Alipay mailbox available.

-For CASH refund a handling fee is charged for each Tax-Free Form. Credit card refunds are not subject to this fee.

Suggestion:

Queuing at the check in counter and then to the Customs clearance counter can be more than 30-45 minutes each. On that day, we were the first few in line to check-in and things were done quickly and smoothly at the customs clearance. The customs officer we met on that day was friendly too. There was a large group of people who started to form a long queue behind us. I will suggest you all get to the airport 2-3 hours earlier so that you have enough time to claim back your tax at the counter.

Pack your goods properly, as the customs officer might ask you to show your goods. Always take a photo or make a copy of your receipts and form before you mail or post it out.