VAT refund from another EU Member State: conditions, the 30 September deadline and a step-by-step guide

Foreign VAT paid on fuel, tolls or accommodation need not become a definitive cost for a business. If a refund is not claimed in time, however, it will become one, and moreover without the possibility of deducting it as a tax-deductible expense. Such VAT cannot be reclaimed in a domestic VAT return. So that, in keeping with the principle of VAT neutrality, it does not remain a cost to the business, a refund may be claimed from the Member State in which it was paid (a so-called VAT refund). The procedure is harmonised across the EU and applications are filed electronically via the Slovak Financial Administration portal. Please note that applications for 2025 must be filed no later than 30 September 2026.

In which situations a refund can be claimed

A refund applies to supplies whose place of supply is in another Member State, and which the supplier therefore legitimately taxed with local VAT. In practice, this most commonly involves:

• fuel, vehicle servicing and repairs, parking fees, motorway charges, and tolls,
• accommodation services, travel fares, and the hire of means of transport,
• admission fees to trade fairs, exhibitions, and conferences, including related services,
• goods purchased and used in another Member State, including the import of goods from a third country into that Member State.

The fundamental condition is that you use the acquired goods and services for business activities that give rise to an entitlement to deduct tax. The extent of the refund is assessed in two ways. Firstly, according to the rules of the Member State of refund; for example, if deduction of input tax on entertainment expenses is excluded there, the tax will not be refunded. Secondly, according to the scope of your right to deduct in your home Member State (with a pro-rata coefficient, only a proportionate share; in the case of private use, only the business share).

A refund is not possible if the supplier applied VAT contrary to the law. A typical example is a situation where a Czech supplier invoices goods transported to Slovakia with Czech VAT. This constitutes an exempt supply of goods to another Member State and an intra-Community acquisition. The procedure for rectification is an invoice correction, not a refund. The refund procedure also does not apply if you carried out your own taxable supplies in the Member State concerned (e.g. passenger transport), with the exception of supplies under the reverse charge mechanism; in such cases, the tax is deducted in the local tax return.

Who can apply

The eligible applicant is a VAT payer registered in Slovakia under Section 4 and Section 4b of the VAT Act who is not established in the Member State of refund. During the period for which the refund is claimed, the applicant must have had the status of a VAT-registered person and must not have performed exclusively supplies exempt from tax without the right to deduct (e.g. exclusively insurance or financial services). Otherwise, the Financial Directorate will not forward the application to the Member State of refund. Non-registered persons and persons registered only under Section 7 or Section 7a have no entitlement.

The application is submitted exclusively electronically and is authorised using a qualified electronic signature. It may also be submitted by an authorised representative based on a written power of attorney, such as a tax advisor. If you are planning to cancel your VAT registration, we recommend submitting the application beforehand; otherwise, you risk its rejection.

For what period and by when

The refund period may last at most one calendar year and must not extend beyond its boundaries. Multiple applications may be submitted within a year, and their periods may even overlap if the rules of the Member State of refund permit this.

In non-eurozone Member States, the thresholds are applied in the national currency equivalent. The application must be submitted by 30 September of the calendar year following the refund period. This is a preclusive time limit; although the portal technically allows the submission of a late application, the Member State of refund will generally reject it.

How invoice details are entered into the application

The refund application includes details from each invoice for the supply of goods or services and from each import document for which a tax refund is claimed. When completing the application, the following rules apply:

• each document is entered separately – details from multiple invoices cannot be aggregated even for the same supplier; credit notes are entered separately with a negative value,
• mandatory details include supplier identification (name, address, VAT identification number), invoice number and date, the taxable amount and tax in the currency of the Member State of refund (e.g. CZK, PLN, HUF), and the code for the type of goods or services (e.g. 1 – fuel, 4 – toll, 6 – accommodation, 10 – other), which some Member States further specify using sub-codes,
• an invoice with multiple VAT rates is entered as a single record with the aggregate taxable amount and tax,
• cash register receipts (e.g. from a petrol station) are designated as a "simplified invoice",
• when deducting tax using a pro-rata coefficient, the percentage of the deductible proportion is stated; if the annual coefficient deviates from the provisional one, an adjustment is made in the application for the following year or by a separate declaration.

We recommend that invoices be issued in the company's business name, not in the name of an employee. Incorrect details in an already submitted application are corrected by submitting a new version of it. Since a new version of a so-called global application is transmitted to all affected Member States, it is preferable to submit separate applications for individual Member States when dealing with a larger volume of documents.

VAT refund for forgotten invoices

An invoice that was not included in an earlier application may be claimed in a subsequent application for the same calendar year, for example an invoice from March 2025 in an application for October – December 2025 or in the annual application for the year 2025. However, carrying it over into an application for a different calendar year is not permissible. A new document cannot be added to an already submitted application.

When copies of documents must be attached

The Member State of refund is entitled to require the applicant to submit an electronic copy of the invoice or import document together with the application if the taxable amount is at least 1 000 eur, or at least 250 eur in the case of fuel (or the equivalent in the national currency). The practice of individual Member States varies in this regard. The volume of attachments is technically limited to 5 MB per Member State and period; if this limit is exceeded, documents with the highest amount of tax are attached and the remaining ones are submitted upon request. As part of a request for additional information, the Member State may request copies as well as originals of documents, even below the specified thresholds. Therefore, we recommend archiving legible scans of all documents.

Time limits for processing the application

The Financial Directorate confirms receipt of the application, verifies compliance with the statutory conditions, and forwards the application electronically to the Member State of refund. From that point on, the applicant communicates directly with the tax authority of the Member State of refund.

The applicant is obliged to respond to a request for additional information within 1 month of its receipt. The Member State will refund the approved amount no later than 10 working days from the expiry of the relevant time limit for the decision; in the event of late payment, interest is payable, but not if the applicant failed to submit the requested information or copies of documents on time. A decision on full or partial rejection must state the grounds and may be appealed under the procedural rules and within the time limits of the Member State of refund. Official documents are delivered to the email address specified in the application.

Income tax implications

The entitlement to a refund of foreign VAT is recognised in accounting as a receivable. From an income tax perspective, it is essential that foreign VAT for which a refund could have been claimed, but no application was submitted, is not a tax-deductible expense. Conversely, if an entitlement to a refund did not arise solely because the minimum threshold (50/400 EUR) was not reached, this VAT is a tax-deductible expense in the tax period of its payment.

We will gladly assist you with assessing your entitlement as well as preparing and submitting the application.

^{The content of this article is for informational purposes only and in no way replaces professional legal, tax, or accounting advice. The company Dravecký & Partner bears no responsibility for any decisions made based on the information provided herein, nor for any potential damage that might arise from such actions. Before applying any information to your specific situation, we strongly recommend consulting with a qualified expert.}