Submit refund request to recover foreign VAT for 2023
Submit refund request to recover foreign VAT for 2023
Did you receive invoices with foreign VAT from another EU country in 2023? A refund application must be submitted by 30 September 2024.
You will receive a confirmation of receipt from the Dutch tax authorities when they receive your request. Upon receipt of the request, the Dutch tax authorities will forward the request to the tax authorities of the other Member State. The Member State of refund will notify you when they have received your request. You will also receive the decision on the refund application from the Member State of refund.
However, according to CJEU case law, the Member State of refund may not simply refuse an application if certain information is missing or incorrect. They can then be obliged to request certain information from you or to give you the opportunity to correct the application. Make sure that you provide this information and make corrections on time. Otherwise there is a risk that the refund will still be refused. If the refund is simply refused, contact your VAT adviser so he or she can assess whether there are still opportunities to obtain a refund of the VAT.
Requirements for refund
In order to reclaim VAT charged in respect of goods, services, intra-Community acquisitions or importation of goods, you must meet the following requirements:- Your company or organization is not established by means of a principal or secondary establishment in the EU Member State where you want to reclaim VAT, but is established in another EU Member State; With respect to VAT declarations made within the OSS scheme or the import scheme, no VAT can be deducted and therefore a refund application can be submitted. Are you established outside the EU? A different refund procedure applies in your case.
- Your company or organization has no activities in the EU Member State of refund in which you incurred VAT; For example, you are not liable for VAT in the Member State of refund if you have supplied transport and related services in the Member State of refund which are zero-rated in the Member State of refund or if supplies were made where the VAT has to be reverse-charged to the customer.
- Your organization performs, at least in part, activities for which you are entitled to deduct input VAT. Please note that the VAT legislation of the Member State of refund is also relevant with respect to this requirement. This means that you should verify whether there are any deduction exclusions or VAT exemptions in the Member State of refund that would limit your right to a refund. An example of this is VAT on catering expenses, which is generally not eligible for a refund. It is therefore possible that you will not be able to (fully) reclaim the VAT on certain expenses.
Submission process
A refund application for foreign VAT must be submitted via the electronic portal of the Dutch tax authorities if you are established in the Netherlands. If you already have login data, you can reclaim the VAT. If you do not have login details, you must first apply to obtain those. Please allow three to four weeks for Dutch tax authorities to process your request for a user name and password. If you have forgotten your login details, you do not need to request them again but you can contact the Tax Information Line (0800-0543).You will receive a confirmation of receipt from the Dutch tax authorities when they receive your request. Upon receipt of the request, the Dutch tax authorities will forward the request to the tax authorities of the other Member State. The Member State of refund will notify you when they have received your request. You will also receive the decision on the refund application from the Member State of refund.
Assessment Member State of refund
The Member State of refund ultimately decides on the content of your refund application. This must be done within four months after the refund application has been received. If the tax administration of the Member State of refund asks additional questions, this decision period will be extended to a maximum of eight months. In addition to the many formal requirements that apply to the refund application including providing relevant details of the applicant and the invoices, categorizing costs and stating the amount of VAT to be refunded per invoice, Member States can also impose additional requirements such as mandatory use of sub-commodity codes, a mandatory language for correspondence, refusing to refund to a third party or requiring invoices or import documents to be attached to the refund application. For example, some Member States, including Germany, Belgium and France, require you to attach an electronic copy of the invoice. Member States may require this if the invoice amount exceeds €1000. For invoices relating to fuel, this is even permitted for amounts over €250. It is important to take these requirements into account. If the request does not meet these requirements, it may be rejected by the Member State of refund.However, according to CJEU case law, the Member State of refund may not simply refuse an application if certain information is missing or incorrect. They can then be obliged to request certain information from you or to give you the opportunity to correct the application. Make sure that you provide this information and make corrections on time. Otherwise there is a risk that the refund will still be refused. If the refund is simply refused, contact your VAT adviser so he or she can assess whether there are still opportunities to obtain a refund of the VAT.