Can you get tax free in Italy with a Russian passport?

Tax free is a VAT refund on goods a traveller takes out of the EU in personal luggage. Under art. 147 of Directive 2006/112 it is available to someone whose permanent address or habitual residence is outside the EU, and only if the goods leave before the end of the third month after the month of purchase. In Italy the same rule is art. 38-quater of Presidential Decree 633/1972 (purchases above 70 euros including VAT, on an invoice), and from 01.01.2027 art. 51 of the new VAT consolidated text (Legislative Decree 10/2026), on the same terms. So a holder of an Italian permesso and residenza is not entitled to it, whatever the passport.

The Russia restriction is art. 3h of EU Regulation 833/2014 (consolidated version of 24.07.2026): luxury goods listed in Annex XVIII may not be sold or exported to anyone in Russia or for use in Russia when an item is worth more than 300 euros. The list covers clothing and shoes of any material, bags and leather goods, perfume and cosmetics, watches and jewellery; household electronics have a 750-euro threshold and photo and audio equipment 1000 euros. Jewellery for a traveller's personal use is exempt.

Practice in the chats (about 280 questions in 2022-2026, 10 in July-September 2026): tax free forms for purchases up to 300 euros per item are issued and refunded at Italian airports without trouble, in cash at the counter on a passport and boarding pass. For items above 300 euros a Russian passport usually gets no tax free form, luxury shops sometimes refuse the sale altogether, and a lot depends on the sales assistant. The limit applies per item, not per receipt.

Chat tips about entering a different country of residence or putting the form on someone else's passport contradict the refund conditions themselves: it belongs to the buyer who personally takes the goods out and lives outside the EU.