VAT refunds to foreign businesses

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Information on Bank Details

Under Regulation (EC) No. 1781/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council and under EPC Resolution 092/05, new requirements apply for cross-border credit transfers within Europe.

As from 01.01.2007, EPC Resolution 092/05 entitles credit institutions in the EU and the EEA to return payments if BIC and IBAN are not stated.

On applications for turnover tax refunds, the IBAN and BIC of the bank branch where the account is kept must therefore be given under Item 7 with immediate effect.

Note:

If the above details are missing, there may be some considerabledelay in transferring any refunds assessed.

Statutory bases

Under certain circumstances, foreign businesses who acquire goods or services in Germany for their businesses may obtain a refund of the VAT invoiced to them through the input tax refund procedure in accordance with § 18, paragraph 9 of the [German] VAT Act (UStG) and §§ 59-61 of the VAT Implementation Order (UStDV).

Responsibility

The Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) is responsible for this in accordance with § 5, paragraph 1 no. 8 of the Tax Administration Act. (FVG).

Eligible applicants

A refund of deductible input tax to businesses domiciled abroad in accordance with §15 UStG may take place if the entrepreneur:

has not made any sales in Germany within the meaning of § 1, paragraph 1, nos. 1 and 5 UStG or has only made tax-exempt sales within the meaning of § 4, no 3 UStG;
has only made sales for which tax is due from the recipient of the service (§13b UStG) or which were subject to individual taxation on transport (§16, paragraph 5 and §18, paragraph 5 UStG);
has only made intra-Community acquisitions and subsequent deliveries in Germany within the meaning of § 25b paragraph 2 UStG, or
has only made sales in Germany as a tax debtor within the meaning of §3a, paragraph 3 UStG and has exercised the option under § 18, paragraph 4c UStG, or has declared said sales and paid the tax due thereon in another Member State

in the refund period.

Formalities

Under § 61, paragraph 1 UStDV, forms are used for the application process. The following application forms are available.

(1) Form USt 1 T on our forms server for completion on-line with subsequent transfer of the application data to the Federal Central Tax Office (suitable for up to 300 itemised invoices). You will find notes on completing the form under "On-line data transfer".

(2) Until further notice, form USt 1 T in pdf format for completion off-line, with a facility for subsequent transfer of the application data to the Federal Central Tax Office (suitable an unlimited number of itemised invoices; Java version1.4. required). You will find notes on this procedure under "On-line data transfer".

(3) Form USt 1 T in pdf format as a template for printing out a blank form (with a facility for completion on a PC before printing).

We recommend using the first or second alternative, as the electronic transfer of data means that your application can be given faster consideration.

You can also obtain form USt 1 T from us by post. To contact us, click here.
If you need help with using the electronic forms, you will find notes under the "Instruction cards".

Deadlines

The application for a VAT refund must be received by the Federal Central Tax Office within six months of the end of the calendar year in which the entitlement to a refund arose (§ 18, paragraph 9, sentence 3 UStG). This is an absolute deadline which cannot be extended.

Conditions for a refund

The application must be signed by the foreign entrepreneur in his or her own hand.

The refund period must be at least three months, but no longer than one calendar year, at the entrepreneur's discretion. The refund period may be less than three months if it covers the remainder of a calendar year.

The VAT refund must be at least €200, unless the refund period is the calendar year or the last period of the calendar year. The refund for the refund periods must be at least €25.

The amount specified in sentence 1 rises to €500 and the amount specified in sentence 3 rises to €250 for businesses who are not domiciled in the EU.

Original invoices and certification from the state in which the entrepreneur is domiciled (an original certificate of businesseship) must be enclosed with the application. The certificate of businesseship will be valid for one year with effect from the date of issue and must subsequently be renewed.

Procedure

The completed application for a refund of VAT and all its enclosures must be sent to:

Bundeszentralamt fuer Steuern
Dienstsitz Schwedt
Passower Chaussee 3 b
D-16303 Schwedt/Oder

The BZSt will check the conditions for a refund, issue a refund advice and send it to the applicant with the original invoices.
You will find all the information you need on VAT refunds to foreign businesses and the contact form in the appropriate sub-menus on the navigation bar on the left-hand side.

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