VAT News

Brexit Ready VAT Update – Claiming VAT Refunds from EU countries from 1 Jan 2021

17.11.2020

If you are a UK business and have staff that travel across the EU on work related projects you may have wondered “ How do I claim back EU VAT?”. There may be hotel bills, car hire invoices, conference costs or costs for other goods or services your UK business has incurred whilst in the EU. In the absence of having any requirement to be VAT registered yourself in that EU country – in which case the VAT costs could be processed through that in-country VAT registration – you certainly would not be able to claim any EU incurred country VAT on your UK VAT Return but there has been a refund route to consider. With the end of the transition period on the 31 December 2020 the question has been what access will UK businesses have to that alternative and on-line refund portal. Some clarity has been supplied in news from HMRC on the 13 November see here

In brief a UK business will be able to use the online EU Refund system for claims for EU VAT incurred up to the 31 December 2020 and will have till 11pm on the 31 March 2021 to submit the claim through the online portal. VAT incurred from the 1 Jan 2021 in an EU state will have to apply a different refund procedure. What each country across the EU will put in place as it’s refund mechanism may vary and may require any UK business to have in place a “Fiscal Representative” in country to process the claim. We are awaiting clarity from the on-going discussions so this will be an area to keep an eye on if your UK business is affected by making VAT Refund claims from other EU states currently.

We have  Get VAT Ready for Brexit update on the 30 November at 10 am and this is the type of information that we’ll be sharing then to help you understand what areas will change and what is currently agreed as the alternative routes from recovery. For details of the event and to book see here »

Brexit Ready VAT Update – How will an EU business claim a UK VAT Refund from 1 Jan 2021

If you are an EU based business but incur some UK VAT on your business costs then the way in which you will be able to claim a Refund from the UK Tax authorities will be changing as the UK leaves the EU on the 31 December 2020. There has been news that the UK will continue to accept online VAT Refund claims for UK VAT incurred up to the 31 December 2020 through the existing online portal up to 11pm on the 31 March 2021. However, for UK VAT incurred from the 1 Jan 2021 any EU business will have to make a manual claim for a UK VAT refund and these claims can start to be submitted from the 1 April 2021. These manual recovery rules can be found here

Should your UK VAT management issues get complicated in the future then do let the VAT Team here at Centurion VAT Specialist know – you can get in touch via emailus@centurionvat.com or visit our website www.centurionvat.com

 

For the avoidance of doubt, the content recorded in this news article does not constitute formal advice and we do not guarantee the accuracy of any information provided at the time of reading. It is always recommended that you seek professional advice before acting on any of the news articles or information included.

 


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