Refund for Polish companies of VAT paid in abroad

September 11, 2019

Dear Customers,
We would like to point out that those Polish companies that have paid value added tax (VAT) on their purchases of goods and services in the European Union in 2018, can apply for a refund from the foreign tax authority by September 30th, 2019.

A significant number of domestic taxpayers make purchases in another Member State of the European Union and thus become subject to VAT in that Member State.

Foreign VAT refunds are only available to taxpayers who are entitled to the refund of VAT on business incurred costs. According to the Council Directive 2008/9/EC, taxpayers in the European Union may reclaim the VAT they have paid in another EU Member State if they meet the legal requirements.

Applications may only be submitted by a company that does not have a permanent establishment or branch in the country of reclaim and that does not provide goods and services in that country during the refund period. In principle, the VAT paid on the costs incurred in connection with all economic activities is recoverable. In the country in which the company has its registered office, the taxpayer may exercise its right of deduction through regular tax returns.

If your company has made VAT-related purchases in EU countries, we will organize the refund of that VAT through VGD.

 

Regulation

Foreign VAT refunds are always subject to the rules of the country of origin. A good example is the VAT refund of fuel: not everywhere there is the ability to recover whole amount of the tax which has been paid. Polish regulations enable to deduct all the tax only in a situation when it is related to petrol purchases for lorries and passenger cars dedicated exclusively for business activity (look at the Polish VAT Act Article 86a).

 

Deadline

For the calendar year to which the refund relates (the reference year), the deadline for registration is September 30th in the following year.

A VAT-REF application form should be submitted via portal e-deklaracje.gov.pl. The document should be signed by a person who is authorised to submit it. Otherwise the application will be dismissed. The form must include a telephone number and/or an e-mail address, in case of any questions a tax office can contact the applicant.

A resident taxpayer does not need to contact the foreign tax authority to claim a VAT refund because the tax authority requests the taxpayer’s branch to submit the claim to the Member State of reimbursement. The refund rules of the Member State may vary and thus they must be examined for each Member State.

 

Amount and duration of the refund claim

If the request for reimbursement relates to a reimbursement period of less than one calendar year, but not less than three calendar months, the minimum VAT amount may not be less than 400 EUR. If the refund request relates to a refund period of one calendar year or less than three months of a calendar year, the VAT amount may not be less than 50 EUR.

For clients who submit their application on their own and want to use our service only for certain problems that occur during the procedure or in the context of legal remedy process, we are happy to advise you.

In addition to the consultation process, VGD Poland is committed to completing the recovery process!

Within this framework: we check the invoices and documents to be filed, we complete the form, we take over the electronic administration of the form, we take over the representation of the company before the Polish and foreign tax authorities until the completion of the procedure.

As your contact person, we will keep you informed about the actions taken by both tax authorities, as well as any feedback you have received on your application (e.g. confirmation of receipt, rectification, decision). We will also assist you in any possible legal remedy process. The procedure lasts 4-8 months. In the event of undue delay, you will be entitled to interest and we will assist you in its enforcement.

If you have a question or inquiry, we are willing to provide you with more details. Please contact your direct contact person or our managing director as soon as possible due to the statutory deadline:

Michaela Martinek

Managing Director

 

michaela.martinek@vgd.eu

Tags

Back to the BLOG

Signatory of the Diversity Charter

We respect the diversity among employees. We want our voice to be heard and thus spread awareness of changes that should be introduced in companies. We do not judge people by their: gender, age, disability, sexual orientation and other premises that may risk discriminatory behavior.

diversity-charter-vgd

Associated with:

CNKP Logo

Silver Winner BBC Award 2020 & 2021

Two times in a row we have been named ‘Silver Winner’ at the Belgian Business Chamber Award 2020 and 2021 - an annual competition organized by the Belgian Business Chamber. We were appreciated for: sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and support for Belgian business in Poland.

bbc-award-2