Deadline for VAT refund from EU member states for the year 2023

The deadline for Austrian entrepreneurs to reclaim input tax from 2023 in EU member states is 30 September 2024. This is a statutory deadline – applications that are not received or are incomplete by the end of the deadline will be rejected. Applications must be submitted electronically via FinanzOnline. The Austrian tax administration will review the application for completeness and admissibility and forward it to the relevant member state. The submission of original receipts (or copies thereof) is not envisaged in the electronic procedure, unless the refunding country specifically requests them. Individual EU member states may request the submission of invoice copies from an invoice amount of €1,000 (for fuel invoices from €250).

The processing of the application should generally be completed by the refunding Member State within four months. If further information is requested, this period is extended to up to eight months. The refund period must generally cover at least three months and a maximum of one calendar year – periods of less than three months may only be requested if they represent the remainder of a calendar year (e.g. November and December). In addition to the refund period, minimum refund amounts dependent on this must also be observed. For a calendar year, €50 is considered the minimum amount, and for three months, €400 is the minimum. Although the deadline and application procedure are the same for all EU Member States, it should be noted that tax regulations regarding the type and extent of VAT refunds can regularly differ from country to country. Restrictions regularly affect, among other things, subsistence and entertainment expenses, representation costs, car expenses, etc.

In practice, it has been found that foreign authorities sometimes require certified translations of invoices and contracts, and therefore the amount to be reimbursed should always be kept in mind. Difficulties can also occasionally arise with the timely (electronic) delivery of supplementary requests or decisions.

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