Businesses that have paid VAT in another EU country can claim a refund of that VAT if they do not submit a VAT return in that country. A refund application is submitted to the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration.
Application and threshold amount
Refund applications may be submitted either at the end of a calendar year or during the course of a calendar year. A minimum threshold applies to refund applications. For an application submitted at the end of a calendar year the VAT amount is at least € 50. For a request that during the calendar year where this is done, a higher threshold of € 400. Incidentally, in such cases, it may also be possible to claim back smaller amounts, but it is up to the EU country to decide whether to process your request.
Before 1 October
A claim must be received by 1 October of the year following the year for which you are claiming a VAT refund. Claims received after this date may not be processed. Claims for a refund in 2015 so we must before 1 October 2016 have been submitted. This can be done via the the Tax and Customs Administration’s website. Please note that login details are required to submit a refund claim. If this is your first claim for a VAT refund from another EU country, you will need to apply for login details. According to the Tax and Customs Administration, it can take up to four weeks for the login details to be sent.
Conditions for a refund request
A business owner can claim back VAT from an EU country if they meet a number of conditions:
- the company is based in the Netherlands;
- the company does not submit a VAT return in the EU country where the VAT is being reclaimed (if the company does submit a return, the VAT may be deducted as input tax);
- VAT applies to goods and services used for business activities subject to VAT.
Request for a refund not possible
A request for a VAT refund from another EU country is not possible in the following cases:
- there is no question of entrepreneurship for VAT purposes;
- the company carries out only exempt transactions;
- the entrepreneur is exempt from administrative obligations;
- The business owner is covered by the agricultural scheme and does not meet the conditions for the agricultural goods refund scheme.
Processing of the request
The tax authority of the EU country from which the VAT is being reclaimed will respond to the refund application by issuing a decision within four months. A claim will be rejected or approved in full or in part. If the claim is approved, payment will be made no later than ten working days after the end of the four-month period.
Attachments to the request
Depending on the EU country in which the VAT refund is being claimed, invoices or import documents may need to be submitted. On the the Tax and Customs Administration’s website You can find out which requirements apply in each EU country. If a refund claim includes a credit note, minus signs must be placed before the invoice amount and the VAT amount, with no space between the minus sign and the amount. A credit note relating to an invoice that was included in a previous refund application must be added to the next refund application.