Foreign VAT refund request

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You might make a purchase from a European supplier get taxed with the local VAT rate of your supplier (ex: gas fees while abroad for work). Usually, you don't get that VAT back. However, you can apply for a foreign VAT refund online via Intervat by entering a VAT Refund declaration. The foreign VAT refund application is not included in the Accountable App.

From the Web:

From the App

Before submitting a foreign VAT refund claim, consider this important information:

• A maximum of 5 claims can be submitted for expenses related to a calendar year.

• If the claim is for a period of 3 months: the minimum amount is 400 euros per Member State.

• If the request is for a period of one calendar year: the minimum amount is 50 euros per Member State.

• If the refundable balance is less than 50 euros after processing the application, there will be no refund.

• The refund is made by the Member State concerned.

• The tax administration sends the application to the tax administration of the country concerned. The latter has 4 months (from the receipt of the application) to make a decision. This period can be extended to 6 or 8 months if additional information is requested.

• Once the decision is made (and if it is positive), the amount is refunded within 10 working days.

More info: https://finance.belgium.be/en/E-services/Intervat/how-to-use-intervat/submit-application-vat-refund

When can you apply for it?

You can apply for a VAT refund no later than September 30th of the following year.

In which country can you apply for a foreign VAT refund?

• If you have incurred expenses in other EU member states as a Belgian taxpayer (e.g. hotel, fuels costs) and your company is not registered with the VAT administration of that country then you are required to apply for a refund via Belgian Intervat website.

• If you or your company have purchased goods for resale in other EU member states as Belgian taxpayer. Then your company have to register with the VAT administration of the other member state concerned. In that case, are supposed to reclaim your VAT refund in reference to the VAT return filed from the same country, not from Belgium.

How to?

You are required to submit all the relevant details on Intervat. There are two ways to do it:

• By file (XML), advisable only if you have an accounting software, and you have exported that file from there. In this case, you are just required to attach a file (XML) into your application.

• By screen, advisable if you do not have an accounting software. You enter the data directly into your Intervat application in the required fields.

In order to explore the step-by-step approach to follow each way mentioned up there, please refer to this official resource,

Regarding the refund of VAT outside the European Union:

You need to get in touch with the relevant foreign administration. In principle, you can use the form 803.

Author - Valesca Wilms

As content marketing lead at Accountable Belgium, Valesca writes about freelancing, self-employment, and taxes based on her own experience as a freelancer.

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