As from 1 January 2010, a claimant resident in the EU that is seeking a VAT refund in another EU Member State where it is neither established nor registered for VAT purposes is required to submit the relevant VAT refund claim electronically to that other Member State via a specific web portal of the tax authorities in the claimant’s home country (Council Directive 2008/9/EC of 12 February 2008). The general deadline for the filing these claims is 30 September of the year following the year in which the VAT in the other Member State was incurred.
Although the web portals in the Member States were supposed to be operating as from 1 January 2010, delays and technical problems have affected the operation of the portals in some Member States, thereby preventing the timely submission of certain VAT refund applications for 2009 on or before 30 September 2010.
The European Commission has therefore proposed to exceptionally extend the deadline for submitting 2009 VAT refund claims to 31 March 2011 and the EU Council adopted that proposal in its meeting on 14 October 2010, with retroactive effect to 1 October 2010. Thus, any claim for reimbursement of VAT in another Member State incurred in 2009 which has not been submitted can and should be filed by EU claimants by 31 March 2011.
For assistance in filing such claims and for further information, please contact Sonja Wiesner or your regular Deloitte indirect tax contact.
