The Vatican is outside the EU customs territory, but its tax-free shops are for permit holders, not for tourists.
- There is no customs border to cross. The Vatican has no controls of its own, and everyone arrives through Italy, so Italian and EU customs rules are what applied to you on the way in.
- The tax-free shops are not open to visitors. The Annona supermarket and the department store are restricted to Vatican employees, residents and holders of a special card, and the queues you see are staff, not tourists.
- The Vatican Pharmacy is the exception most travellers can use. It sells medicines not licensed in Italy and works on prescriptions, and you can enter it with your passport through the Sant'Anna gate.
- Buying there and carrying goods into Italy is legally an import, because the Vatican is outside the EU customs territory even though nobody checks.
- The euro is legal tender under an agreement with the EU, and Vatican-minted coins are collectors' items rather than something you will be handed as change.
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