Yes: a visitor whose home is outside the EU can get Romanian VAT back on goods bought from an authorised shop showing the TAX FREE sign, as long as a single invoice comes to more than the lei equivalent of 175 euros, a figure set each year. The goods must leave the EU unused before the end of the third month after the month of purchase, and customs must stamp the invoice and the VAT refund document on the way out. The money then comes back one of two ways: the shop pays the full VAT once the stamped originals reach it, or a refund office such as the one at Otopeni airport pays on the spot and keeps a commission.
Every claim is won or lost at two moments. At the till, the shop either issues the right paperwork or it does not. At departure, customs compares that paperwork with the goods and the calendar. Romania’s standard VAT rate is 21%, and the minimum is judged invoice by invoice, never on the total of a shopping day.
Who can claim a VAT refund in Romania?
Anyone whose domicile or permanent address is outside the EU can claim, provided a passport, ID card or other recognised identity document shows it. The address decides, not the nationality. EU citizens who live outside the EU qualify on that basis and should carry proof of residence alongside the passport.
A claim has to pass three gates:
- Where you live: outside the EU, as shown in your identity document.
- What you buy: goods you carry out of the EU in your personal luggage.
- Where you buy it: an authorised shop displaying the TAX FREE sign.
The scheme realistically pays off for a visitor who makes at least one sizeable purchase in one shop. A trip built around small souvenirs rarely produces an invoice that clears the minimum, so the paperwork is not worth chasing there.
Are hotels, meals and other services refundable?
No. The scheme covers goods carried out of the EU, so accommodation, restaurant meals, transport and tours fall outside it. The VAT on a hotel bill or a dinner in Bucharest stays in the price whatever your address.
The TAX FREE sign, and what to ask for before you pay
Only authorised shops take part, and the law requires them to display a TAX FREE sign. Ask for the tax-free paperwork before you pay, because the shop has to issue it with the sale and you keep the originals.
The shop hands over two documents:
- the invoice for the purchase;
- the VAT refund document, “Document de restituire a TVA cumpărătorilor nestabiliți în UE”, made out in two copies, of which you keep the original.
The shop needs your passport or ID card showing the non-EU address to fill them in. Asking first matters. A claim rests on one invoice, and the refund document cannot be made up afterwards from a till receipt you bring back later.
A shop without the sign can still sell you the coat, but nothing it hands over will ever carry a customs stamp. For where the shopping actually happens in the capital, see our Bucharest guide.
The two rules that decide a claim: one invoice over 175 euros, out of the EU within three months
The total including VAT on one invoice must come to more than the lei equivalent of 175 euros, a figure set each year. The goods must also leave the EU before the end of the third month after the month of purchase. Customs checks both rules, and missing either one ends the claim.
The deadline runs in calendar months. Goods bought in February must be out of the EU by the end of May, whether you bought them on the first of the month or the last. A purchase late in a month therefore gives you more room than one bought early.
Because each invoice stands alone, one larger purchase beats a string of small ones. Plan the big buy as a single invoice in a single shop. Several invoices are fine, but only when each one clears the minimum on its own.
Can you combine several receipts to reach the minimum?
No. Each invoice is judged on its own, so two receipts from the same shop on the same day do not add up. If two items together clear the minimum, put them through the till together on one invoice.
How much VAT do you actually get back in Romania?
Romania’s standard VAT is 21% and the reduced rate is 11%. Because the tax sits inside the shelf price, the refundable share is about 17.4% of what you paid at the standard rate and about 9.9% at the reduced rate, before any commission or bank charge.
The share is smaller than the headline rate for a simple reason. The rate is charged on the price before tax, so at 21% the tax makes up 21/121 of the total, and at 11% it makes up 11/111.
What reaches you is that share minus the cost of the route you pick: a refund office’s commission, or the bank or postal charges on a refund from the shop. The two routes are compared below.
Check which rate your invoice shows before counting on the refund. The same spend at the reduced rate returns little more than half of what it would at the standard rate.
Claiming at Bucharest Otopeni airport: customs first, then the refund
At Henri Coandă International Airport (Otopeni, OTP), go to customs in International Departures before you check in any bag that holds the goods. Customs checks you against the documents, the documents against the unused goods, and the deadline, then stamps the invoice and the refund document. Customs stamps; it never pays.
- Arrive with time for a customs stop on top of the usual check-in and security.
- Go to customs in International Departures before check-in, carrying the unused goods, the original invoice and refund document from the shop, and your passport.
- Let customs check your identity, the goods and the deadline, then collect the stamped invoice and refund document.
- Take the stamped originals to the refund office near customs for payment on the spot, or keep them to return to the shop.
Customs may refuse certification when the goods, the documents or the dates do not match. Without the stamp, neither refund route pays anything.
The refund office is run by Ask for Tax Free, a refund agent with a cash office in International Departures near customs. It pays out the VAT minus a commission it keeps.
The same rule applies at any other Romanian customs office where you leave the EU. The order never changes: goods and documents to customs first, money second.
Do you have to show the goods, and can you use them before you leave?
Yes, customs may ask to see the goods, and they must be unused and within reach. Keep them in your hand luggage, or in a bag you have not yet checked in, until the stamp is on the documents. A sealed box already sent to the hold cannot be shown at the desk, and customs can refuse to stamp what it cannot see.
Refund from the shop or at the airport office: which route pays more?
The shop route pays more: it returns the full VAT with no commission. The catch is that you must get the stamped original refund document and the stamped invoice copy back to the shop, in person or by post, and wait for a bank transfer, postal order or cash, paying any bank or postal charge yourself. The airport office pays on the spot and keeps a commission. Full amount later, or less now: that is the whole choice.
| Route | What you hand over | What you get back | When it is paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authorised shop | Stamped original refund document and stamped invoice copy, in person or by post | Full VAT, no commission; bank or postal charges are yours | After the originals reach the shop |
| Refund unit (airport office) | Stamped documents at the counter | VAT minus the unit’s commission | On the spot, before you fly |
The shop route suits one large purchase and a traveler who can post documents from home without fuss. On a big invoice, the commission is real money, and the wait costs nothing but patience.
The office route suits anyone who wants the claim closed before boarding. On a modest invoice, a bank charge on a transfer from abroad can swallow much of what the shop would send, so cash at the counter often leaves you with more in hand.
Refund units can also operate from outside Romania or through intermediaries; the law allows both, and each keeps a commission in the same way. Paying in lei and the rest of the money side of the trip are covered in our Romania travel guide.
Spending money abroad
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Leaving the EU from another country: where you validate instead
Validation happens at the customs office of the last EU member state you leave from, which is not always Romania. Crossing into Hungary or Bulgaria is not an EU exit, so the stamp comes later, at your final EU exit point. On a connecting flight through another EU airport, hand luggage is validated at that airport’s exit office, and checked luggage at the Romanian office before the first flight.
The shop route still ends in Romania. Wherever the stamp is applied, the stamped originals go back to the Romanian shop that issued them, so a refund from the shop works from any exit point.
On a multi-country trip, the goods have to stay unused and reachable until that last EU exit, which may be several countries later. Pack them for the final border, not for the first flight out of Bucharest.
Passport control at departure is a separate check from customs; what it expects of your passport is set out in Romania’s entry rules. Your home country may also charge its own duty and tax on goods above its allowance, so check that before a large purchase.
What if you leave Romania by land to Moldova, Ukraine or Serbia?
Those borders are EU external borders, so the Romanian customs office at the crossing is where the stamp happens, under the same rule as at the airport. Bring the goods, the original invoice, the refund document and your passport to customs before you cross.
Your Tax-Free Checklist
- You qualify only if your passport, ID card or other identity document shows a home address outside the EU, whatever your nationality.
- Buy from an authorised shop with the TAX FREE sign, and ask for the invoice and the VAT refund document before you pay.
- One invoice must come to more than the lei equivalent of 175 euros, a figure set each year, because separate receipts never add up.
- The goods must leave the EU unused before the end of the third month after the month of purchase.
- At Otopeni, see customs in International Departures before check-in, with the goods, the original invoice, the refund document and your passport.
- After the stamp, the shop refunds the full VAT once the originals reach it, while the airport refund office pays on the spot and keeps a commission.
How We Checked This
This page follows one claim from the till through the customs stamp to the refund route, for a visitor living outside the EU; where to shop, money and entry rules sit on their own guides.
Written with AI assistance, this page had its rates, minimum rule and customs steps checked by Alex Perrut, working in tourism since 2015, for the Tripstou editorial team under our editorial process.
Official sources consulted: Your Europe: VAT rates, Your Europe: VAT refunds when shopping, Romanian Ministry of Public Finance order on non-EU VAT refunds.
Keep Planning Romania
- Romania travel guide: planning the trip, paying and the money basics.
- Romania visa requirements: what passport control expects before you fly.
- Bucharest guide: where the shopping actually happens.
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