AS far as I know the ideea of VAT is (beside beeing on emore tax we have to pay) that citizens of a country "support" some governement invests by this. The tax beeing inlcuded in the price of almost everything you buy, you have no escape . But, why should something coming from another country support the finances of the guest country ?
So, what they said is: OK, guys, we’ll refund some money
So, if you are not a citizen from the European Union (so, if you are from the US, I think you get the VAT back) you can get the VAT refund. At the airport there is a "VAT Refund office", you go there with the VAT Refund bill (ask for this when you do your shoping) and they’ll get you the VAT back.

However, in order to get it back, teh sum on your bill should be bigger then, I think, 190 EUR. At least in France. So, for the current stuff you buy (like a pack of cigaretts, you won’t get the VAT back).
hint no 1: be careful to ask for the VAT bill, that’s a different bill then the normal one. In fact, there are two, a pink one and a green one.
hint no 2: usually they ask you how you want your money to be retourned. I always ask for cash. However, when I bought my digital photo camera they asked me for a RIB (as they cannot give me a cash refounding….blah blah blah) I have never seen that money back
hint no 3: if none of the goods you buy are over 190 EUR (I repeat I think is this sum, anyway it’s something like this)but the total amount is over this sum, put them all on the same bill and it works.
AFAIK for hotel bills / services they son’t give you the VAT back.

all best,
Radu[url=‘http://www.outdoorholiday.com’ title=‘Hiking, Horse back riding, camping, mountain biking in Eastern Europe’]Holidays in Eastern Europe[/url]

VAT refunds are only on tangible things — not hotels, car rentals, or any "consumables."

Shops which do VAT refund have a respective sticker. Yes, it only applies to consumer goods. not services. When you mane a purchase, you fill in a special form and then present it and the goods you’ve bought in a special VAT refund office in the airport (or people in the shop will tell you where it is). If you paid in cash, they usually return you VAT in cash, if with credit card – the refund will be put there.

VAT – I learned in Canada I could not get a VAT refund on a training course. I really didn’t think I could but the VAT was several hundred US $ so I thought I’d try – no luck. Just stuff you can buy – not hotels, services, etc.