VAT Reclaim by the Thirteenth Directive

The use of the EU Directive 86/560/EEC, commonly referred to as the thirteenth directive, allows for companies based outside of the EU that are not registered for VAT in a certain EU country, to be able to recover VAT paid.

In order to qualify to reclaim thorough the 13th Directive, generally the following conditions must be met; a taxable entity not established in the country who also hasn’t supplied goods or services in the member state.

Most businesses who pay VAT in a country where they do not regularly trade, and therefore aren’t registered for VAT, are able to claim back a refund by submitting the request to the tax authority, however some countries require for the claimant to appoint a tax representative in order to carry out the process.

There are also a number of countries who do not allow all non-EU countries to claim the refund, these may require a reciprocity agreement to be in place with the company’s country of establishment in order to claim the refund back. For each country, there is also a separate deadline to apply by, and in most cases a minimum amount you must recover. Claims can be made to cover a full year or a smaller period, and multiple claims can be made for periods within the same year – however there is a limit for each country of how many claims can be made per annum.

Although a refund may fit all the needed points, it is determined by the member state the refund is being claimed in whether the company is eligible to claim the refund using the Thirteenth Directly. In addition, for the companies based within an EU country, but not VAT registered or trading in another member state, they can use the Eighth Directive in order to submit a similar claim.