At European airports, expensive purchases are confiscated from Russians when trying to issue a VAT refund using the Tax-Free system.
This was told by tourists returning from Germany and other countries. It also reports on the difficulties of processing the return and transportation of expensive items to the Russian Federation from France, Estonia, Austria, and Finland.
So, when leaving France, they wanted to confiscate things from one tourist, for which a refund was issued for Tax-Free, but they made a “gift” and left them. A man returning from Frankfurt intended to bring in a new iPhone, but during the Tax-Free registration he was detained, the phone was confiscated and even a case was opened “about an attempt to illegally import luxury goods into Russia.”
Another tourist was able to smuggle Valentino items only because she removed all the tags from them and threw away the box. Other tourists who managed to bring expensive purchases into the Russian Federation did the same.
When entering Finland, a tourist from Moscow wanted to receive a VAT refund for the purchase of expensive video cards for a computer. The goods were let through only in exchange for refusing to receive a tax deduction.
Recall that the EU in March banned the export to Russia of clothes, shoes, and accessories worth more than 300 euros.