VAT refund for third-country contractors

The deadline for the reimbursement of input tax amounts paid in third countries (e.g. Switzerland, Turkey) is 30 June 2025. Austrian companies affected by this should therefore submit an appropriate application in good time. This deadline should not be confused with the deadline for input tax reimbursement within the EU, which does not end until 30 September 2025. Applications for this reimbursement procedure must be submitted electronically via FinanzOnline.

The deadline of 30.06.2025 also applies to foreign entrepreneurs with their registered office outside the EU. They can apply for a refund of Austrian withholding taxes for the year 2024 by this date. The deadline is not extendable! The responsible authority for the applications is the tax office Graz-Stadt (applications are to be submitted using form U5 and, for first-time applicants, questionnaire Verf 18). Proof of payment of import VAT and all invoices must be attached to the application in their original form.

However, special regulations apply to some third countries, such as Great Britain, even though the United Kingdom has been a third country since Brexit. The special regulations are due to national British regulations and stipulate that the remuneration period deviates from the calendar year and is based on the so-called "prescribed year". The prescribed year runs from 1 July of one year to 30 June of the following year, and the application for input tax refund on the basis of such a prescribed year must be submitted within 6 months of the end of the period. Consequently, for the refund of input tax amounts from the period 1.7.2024 to 30.6.2025, the remuneration applications must be submitted by 31.12.2025 at the latest.

Claims for the refund of value added tax (VAT) in Great Britain must be submitted by post, along with the enclosed British refund form "VAT 65A" (in paper form), a valid certificate of business, and the original invoices and import documents. Electronic submission via the SDES Claim System is also possible as an alternative. The precondition is that the input tax amounts must exceed the minimum amount of £130 for a claim period of less than twelve months (which must however cover at least three months), or £16 for a period of a full twelve months.

Image: © Adobe Stock - Denys Rudyi