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VAT refunds to international organisations and institutions

General Points

The Federal Republic of Germany has undertaken in multilateral agreements to grant relief to organisations from indirect taxes for major taxable services proved in Germany, where possible.  Under the same principles, the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) may exempt services provided in other EU countries to international organisations or institutions domiciled in Germany from value added tax.

Statutory Bases

The protocols on privileges and immunities, agreements regarding country of domicile, individual agreements and Article 15 no. 10 of the 6th EC Directive constitute the statutory bases.

Responsibility

The responsibility of the Federal Central Tax Office is based on §5, paragraph 1, no. 3 of the Tax Administration Act (FVG).

Entitled Parties

International Organisations:

are established to perform joint tasks on behalf of the countries involved, e.g. for

  • research purposes (e.g. space research, exploration of the firmament, research in the field of molecular biology, etc.)
  • Joint management of administrative work (e.g. patent registrations, currency and air security tasks).

International Institutions:

These include institutions for political purposes, such as the European Union, the United Nations, including all partial and sub-institutions, OSCE and NATO, inter alia.

Formalities

Applications for refunds do not require completion of a form. They simply have to contain a reference to the respective statutory basis, a list of invoices and the total costs and amounts of VAT involved and the total amount claimed.
Applications for exemption from German VAT require completion of a form. The European Union has published a standard form in the major EU languages, which the entitled parties may request from the Federal Central Tax Office. The contact form in the navigation bar on the left-hand side must be used for this purpose.

Deadlines

Deadlines for applications for refunds are not generally stipulated, but emerge from the respective statutory bases.

Refund Conditions

Substantive Conditions:
  • The services were provided to complete tasks for which provision is made in the respective memorandum and articles of association (official activity) and
  • the individual invoice itemises tax which exceeds the equivalent of €25.

 

Formal Conditions (Of Applications For a VAT Refund):

Procedure for the refund of German tax:

  • Original invoices within the meaning of §14, paragraph 1 of the VAT Act (UStG) must be submitted.
  • Evidence of payment of the respective invoice, including the applicable VAT, must be provided.


Evidence may also be provided in other ways for other refundable taxes, e.g. insurance tax, mineral oil excise duty and duty on spirits.


Exemption from VAT due in other EU countries:

  • The application form must be completed.
  • Documents relating to the intended claim (cost estimate, etc.) of the service or, if the service has already been provided, invoices or quotations, must be submitted. The documents must clearly show the nature of the service, the price and the amount of tax.

Results

Refund Procedure:

The Federal Central Tax Office refunds the VAT by credit transfer and informs the applicant in writing of the decision.

Exemption Procedure:

The Federal Central Tax Office decides on the extent of the exemption from foreign tax and informs the applicant of the decision on the application form. The applicant forwards said certification to the foreign entrepreneur, who is then entitled to make the sale exempt from tax or, it the tax has already been paid, to refund it to the applicant. The entrepreneur keeps the certificate as evidence for the responsible tax authority.

Certification Procedure Under Article 15, No. 10 Of The 6th EC Directive

Insofar as international organisations domiciled in Germany enjoy VAT privileges, they may also be exempt from payment of foreign VAT on receipt of services from another EU Member State.
The application form is considered by the Federal Central Tax Office and endorsed as exempt. The purchaser submits this certification to the foreign entrepreneur, to be kept with tax documents for inspection by the responsible tax authority.

 


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