How To Get A Tax Refund At Milan Linate Airport
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One of the biggest advantages of shopping in Europe for Americans is securing items while knowing you can get a tax refund upon departure.
We have done this countless times and while it always seems to be a tricky process there is usually a way to figure it out.
We won’t go into details on the VAT tax and how to qualify for a refund but if interested you can find out more about that here.
What we will be doing in this guide is to specifically tell you how to find a tax refund at Milan Linate Airport since we were confused by the process and didn’t want others to fall into a potential trap.
Milan Linate Airport is the second largest airport in the city and the closest to the city center located only 7 kilometers away. Most flights out of this airport are often domestic or to other parts of the EU, with a few select flights outside to the likes of London and Switzerland.
Due to the majority of flights being to other EU countries they do not put much emphasis on tax refunds here. However, there is a way to do it if you are going outside the EU and here is how.
Located area 7 at check in
When you arrive to Milan Linate Departures there will be multiple check in areas. You want to find aisle 7 to locate the customs office.
Walk towards the back
Go past the check in desks and walk all the way to the back of the area.
Find the customs office
Once in the back you will see a customs office. This is where you want to bring you tax free form along with your items.
After you show your boarding pass, passport, receipt, and items – the agent will stamp your form.
Once complete the agent will mention for you to go over to Area 3 where the refund desk is located.
DO NOT go to the refund desk
This is where things get tricky – the refund desk is located in Area 3 and has the tax refund sign on it.
The reason you do not want to go here is the huge amount of fees they will charge you just to get your refund back. This desk will charge you a processing fee for each receipt and offer you an unreasonable conversation rate for your good. You will end up paying about 30% of your overall refund amount by just going to the this desk.
Instead, go to the front of Area 3 by Hudson News
Locate the Hudson News stand that is towards the entrance door of Area 3.
Walk past it towards the bag wrapping and doors
You want to take a few steps forward just to the entrance of area 5.
Spot the yellow mailboxes
You will see 2 post boxes off to the corner that are kind of hidden. Once you have your stamp on your tax refund you want to close it and drop it in the left slot here “Per La Citta” that means for the city.
As long as you selected the credit card refund you will receive your full amount in a few weeks.
Summary & Takeaways
Given Milan Linate airport does not have a lot of flights going outside of the EU the tax refund process is a bit tricky. However, the official signs are a bit of a sneaky way to charge you more fees.
If you follow the above process you can get your refund amount in full and it doesn’t take much time at all.
13 comments
Leonardo
Tks you so much. I will try to follow that tomorrow. My issue is my flight it’s 07AM in the moorning. I’m not sure if the Cust. Service will be open at this time.
Rohan LalaAuthor
It should be open given you are departing on an international flight. Let us know how it goes!
Jane
What time does the cust office open?
Rohan LalaAuthor
I believe it opens at 7AM
Lewis
Thank you! This made the process so much easier and straightforward for me!!
Rohan LalaAuthor
Great I’m glad it worked out!
Scarlet Siu
Do I put the sealed envelopes on the right or left side of the post box? I’ve just translated it, the left side says for the city and the right says for all other destinations.
Amirah
hi, which side of the post box should i drop it in? TIA :D
Rohan LalaAuthor
Left side Per La Citta
Daniel
I made my web checkin. Can I got direct to customs? The Global Blue address is at Slovachia. Do I have to put my envelops in “per la citta” box?
Rohan LalaAuthor
Yea go directly to customs with your boarding pass and after they give you the stamp on your slip put it in per la citta box
Show 2 more comments
Phil
The instructions above worked almost perfectly. There is a sign at customs that you must bring your items in your checked luggage. We brought a checked bag with our items in carry on, just in case, but no one checked. Very friendly and helpful customs agents. There is no longer a mailbox in the airport. The Global Blue refund terminal at customs does all the processing, and when completed, it is not necessary to mail the forms. The other company (with the yellow envelopes) can be processed at the kiosk but the agents did it for us, telling us that it is faster if they do it. We are taking those yellow envelopes home with us and will mail them, with postage, from there. There is a ‘mailbox ‘ for Global Blue at the currency exchange, but that just looks like part of the scam to charge fees.
Rohan LalaAuthor
Glad it worked and thanks for the update. We’ll update the guide to follow the new steps and that global blue mailbox sounds like just another trick to charge you a fee.