If you live outside the European Union and you buy a Mac, an iPhone, an iPad, an Apple Watch or an accessory here, you can claim back the VAT that is already inside the price. It is not a discount of ours and it is not a promotion: it is the VAT travellers’ scheme. You pay the full price at the counter, VAT included; when the device leaves the EU with you and your form is stamped on the way out, that sale is exempt, and we refund the VAT to you ourselves, by bank transfer. There is no intermediary and no handling fee: what comes back is the VAT that appears on your invoice. On a €990 machine, that is €171.82.
And it is faster than almost anyone expects. You send us a photo of the stamped form by email — you can do it from the airport kiosk itself, the moment they stamp it — and the transfer goes out that same day. There is nothing to do once you are home, and no deadline hanging over you.
We are an independent Apple service centre in Sant Antoni. Everything we sell goes across our own bench before it goes in the window, and it leaves with a three-year warranty. Tax Free sits on top of that: the same device, at the same published price, with the VAT back if you meet the conditions. What we can tell you straight away: it is not the 21% you will have been told, repairs are not included, and the only thing left in your hands is one photo sent from the airport.
Who it works for (and who almost never gets told)
What counts is not your nationality, but where you normally live:
- Residents outside the EU. The United Kingdom qualifies since Brexit, and so do Switzerland, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Latin America and any other non-EU country.
- Residents of the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla. Almost nobody advertises this, and it is written into the rules: they are Spanish territory, but they sit outside the EU VAT territory, so their residents have exactly the same right as a traveller from outside the EU. With a Spanish DNI and a document proving that you normally live there.
- The device has to leave with you, in your personal luggage, for your own use or your family’s — not to resell.
- There is no minimum spend. A cable counts the same as a MacBook Pro.
How it works, in four steps
- Tell us when you buy, and pay the full price. At the counter, with your passport or your residence document in front of us. You pay the price on the label, VAT included, and we issue the electronic refund form in your name there and then. We also take down your bank details, because that is how the money will come back to you — an IBAN if your country uses one, and if it does not, your SWIFT/BIC plus your local account number is enough. This is the step with no way back: if you walk out of the shop without the form, it cannot be done afterwards.
- Take the device with you. You have three months from the date of purchase to leave the European Union with it. That is the only clock in the whole process, and it is about leaving, nothing else.
- Get it stamped, and email us the photo from the kiosk. Stamping is done at the Spanish tax authority’s DIVA kiosks, in the airport, port or land border where you leave the EU: electronic, free, and it takes a minute — you scan the code on your form and that is that. Keep the device to hand and do not put it in the hold before stamping, in case you are asked to show it. Then, right there, photograph the stamped form with your phone and send it to info@reciclatecnologia.com. That is the whole of your side of it.
- The transfer goes out the same day. When your email arrives we check the form and send the VAT to your account that same day. How long it then takes to show up depends on your bank, not on us — what we promise is the day it leaves. And if you would rather not deal with a transfer at all, you can collect the refund in person at the shop the next time you are passing through Barcelona.
About the last two steps we are going to be straight with you. We refund the VAT ourselves: no intermediary, no handling commission, nothing taken off the amount — what comes back is the VAT that appears on your invoice. In exchange, there is one thing that depends entirely on you: we need that photo of the stamped form. It is the proof that the device left the EU, and until it reaches us there is nothing we are allowed to refund, however obvious it is that you have flown home. The good news is that it is one email, it can be sent before you board, and there is no deadline for sending it: if you forget and remember three weeks later, send it then and the transfer goes out that day.
What is covered and what is not
Covered: everything you carry out of the shop. Mac, MacBook Air and Pro, iMac, Mac mini, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods and accessories, refurbished or new. You can see what is in stock today in our refurbished Apple catalogue.
Not covered: repairs. The VAT travellers’ scheme applies to supplies of goods, and the Spanish tax authority expressly excludes supplies of services: fixing a screen, replacing a battery or recovering data are services, and there is no Tax Free on them. We would rather tell you here than have you find out at the airport kiosk.
What a repair does come with is worth money too: a three-year warranty, same day whenever we have the part in stock, no appointment needed and a free initial assessment. And if you are travelling and your Mac or your iPhone has broken here, that is still the fast way out of it.
How much actually comes back
This is where a lot of people are disappointed, so here it is with numbers. Our prices already include VAT, so what comes back is not 21% of the price on the label: it is the VAT contained inside that price, worked out as price × 21 / 121, which is up to 17.36% of what you pay.
The table below is an example, not a price list. It shows how much VAT is contained in a price of that size — not how much is refunded on a particular unit. Prices are real ones from our catalogue today:
| Example price (VAT included) | VAT contained in that price (price × 21/121) | Taxable base (the device, before VAT) |
|---|---|---|
| €350.00 | €60.74 | €289.26 |
| €400.00 | €69.42 | €330.58 |
| €550.00 | €95.45 | €454.55 |
| €900.00 | €156.20 | €743.80 |
| €990.00 | €171.82 | €818.18 |
| €1,300.00 | €225.62 | €1,074.38 |
| €1,600.00 | €277.69 | €1,322.31 |
Read the table with these two caveats, because they are the whole of the small print. First: the exact amount is the VAT that appears on your invoice. Second-hand devices bought from private individuals are taxed under the special margin scheme, where the VAT is worked out on the margin and not on the price, so on those the amount can be lower — we tell you the exact figure at the counter, before you pay. Second: the middle column is the theoretical maximum, and the right-hand column is the taxable base, not what the device ends up costing you. Because we refund the VAT ourselves, there is no handling commission and no percentage is taken off that amount. The only thing that can reduce it is what the transfer itself costs — and for most of our customers that is zero. The next section says exactly when.
The figures on the left are prices that are in the catalogue today (we currently have two different machines at €550). Stock changes, so yours may well be a different number: the formula is always the same.
What the transfer costs (for most people, nothing)
It does not depend on your country so much as on the zone your account is in and the currency. There are three cases, and two of them are free:
| Where your account is | What the transfer costs |
|---|---|
| Spain, including the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla | It is a domestic transfer: €0. |
| The rest of the SEPA area, in euros | €0. And here is the part almost nobody knows: SEPA is bigger than the EU. The United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Andorra are all in it, so those transfers are free as well. You just need an account that can receive euros. |
| Outside SEPA, or in another currency — United States, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Canada… | Whatever the bank charges for the international transfer. We do not print a figure here because we do not have it confirmed: we tell you the exact amount before we send the money. |
If your account falls in that third case and the fee does not work out for you, you are not stuck with it: you can collect the refund in person at the shop whenever you are next in Barcelona, and then it costs you nothing at all.
What to bring
- Your passport, or an official document proving that you live outside the EU.
- If you live in the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla: your DNI plus a document proving that you normally live there (a certificado de empadronamiento, for example).
- Your bank details. An IBAN if your country uses one; if it does not, your SWIFT/BIC and your local account number work perfectly well. Bring them written down, or a photo of them on your phone. If you would rather collect the refund at the shop on a future trip, you do not need them at all.
- Tell us before you pay. The form is issued with the sale; it cannot be added the next day, or over WhatsApp.
- The device, with you, when you leave the EU — and in your hand luggage until it has been stamped.
- And at the airport, your phone: one photo of the stamped form, emailed to us from the kiosk, and you are done.
Frequently asked questions
Do I get 21% of the price back?
No, and anyone who tells you that is misleading you. The price you see already has the VAT inside it, so the VAT contained is price × 21/121, up to 17.36%. On a €990 machine that is €171.82, not €207.90 — and on a second-hand device taxed under the margin scheme it can be less. What we can promise about that amount is that it arrives whole: we refund it ourselves, so there is no handling commission and no percentage taken off it. The exact amount for your device is the VAT on your invoice, and we tell it to you at the counter before you pay.
Is there a minimum spend?
No. The old minimum purchase no longer exists: today you can ask for Tax Free on any amount, from a cable to a Mac Studio.
I live in the UK. Does Brexit change anything?
Yes, in your favour, and twice over. Since the United Kingdom left the European Union, UK residents count as travellers from outside the EU for VAT purposes, so someone from London buying a MacBook here has exactly the same right to a refund as someone from New York, Toronto, Sydney or Singapore. And the second part: the UK is still in the SEPA area, so if your account can receive euros the transfer costs nothing. Bring your passport, tell us before you pay, get the form stamped at a DIVA kiosk before you fly home, and email us the photo from the kiosk.
I live in the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla. Does it apply to me?
Yes, and it is one of the worst-explained parts of the whole thing. Residents of the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla are entitled to the refund exactly like residents of a country outside the EU. Bring your DNI and a document proving that you normally live there. If you come to Barcelona and go home with a Mac, it counts — and since the refund is a domestic transfer, it reaches you free of charge.
Can I claim Tax Free on a repair?
No. The VAT refund for travellers covers the purchase of goods, and the rules expressly exclude supplies of services — and a repair is a service. If you have your MacBook screen replaced here, there is no Tax Free; if you buy a MacBook, there is. We would rather be clear about it from the start.
How long do I have, and where is it stamped?
Three months from the purchase to leave the European Union with the device. Stamping is done at the Spanish tax authority’s DIVA kiosks in the airport, port or land border where you leave the EU: it is electronic, free and takes a minute. Leave yourself some time, because at peak hours there is a queue. One thing worth being clear about: those three months are the deadline for leaving, not for sending us the photo. For the photo there is no deadline at all.
When and how do I get the money?
You pay the full price here, VAT included, and we refund the VAT by bank transfer, the same day your photo of the stamped form arrives. That is why we take your bank details at the counter. When it then shows up in your account depends on your bank and your country, so that part we are not going to promise — what we promise is the day the money leaves us, and that day is the day you email us. For accounts in Spain or anywhere else in the SEPA area in euros the transfer is free; outside SEPA there is an international transfer fee, and we tell you the exact amount before sending it. You can also collect the refund in person at the shop if you are coming back through Barcelona. One useful detail: since 23 June 2026, if the tax authority asks you for additional documentation you can provide it using the CSV code on your form, without needing a Spanish NIF.
My country does not use IBAN. Is that a problem?
Not at all, and it is worth saying because most of the people reading this page are in exactly that situation. IBAN is a European format: plenty of countries outside the SEPA area do not use it. Your SWIFT/BIC code and your local account number are enough for us to send the money, in whatever form your bank uses them. Bring them with you when you buy, and if anything is missing we will tell you at the counter rather than after you have flown.
What if I forget to send you the stamped form?
Then the refund simply waits for you, and this is the honest answer rather than the comfortable one: the stamped form is the proof that the device left the European Union, and without it there is nothing we can refund, no matter how obvious it is that you flew home. But nothing is lost, because there is no deadline for sending it. Email the photo to info@reciclatecnologia.com whenever you remember — that same evening, or weeks later — and the transfer goes out the day it reaches us. The easiest moment, though, is right at the kiosk, while the form is still in your hand. If you are not sure it arrived, message us on WhatsApp and we will check.
Come and see us, or drop us a message
We are at Carrer del Marquès de Campo Sagrado 13-15, 08015 Barcelona, in Sant Antoni, on the corner of Comte Borrell. We are open Monday to Saturday, 10:00 to 20:00 with no lunchtime closing, closed on Sunday, and no appointment is needed. There is 1.5 h of free parking for customers, hundreds of Google reviews, and our own workshop behind the counter. It is also where you can pick up your refund in person, if you would rather have it that way than by transfer.
Questions before you come in? Message us on WhatsApp at +34 936 241 954 and we will tell you whether your case qualifies, which document to bring and what we have in stock. We answer in writing, so there is a record of everything.