When you have already paid vat on your goods or services more than once and want to receive the original amount back then while reclaiming vat ensure proper procedures are followed. You may use the vat refund scheme to get back vat which may have already been paid earlier so as to lower your costs as well as get respite from the problem of double taxation over your services or goods.
Although you will not be permitted to deduct the VAT amount of taxes straight from your next vat return, you will still be permitted to state that amount in a separate vat refund scheme. This scheme is available in the United Kingdom governed by certain conditions. Most eu countries that follow vat usually have such procedures where vat amounts which have already been paid can be reclaimed. If you are a vat registered trader in the UK that does not have vat registration in the nation of origin then you can claim any vat paid in the country provided you meet some other vat rules.
You may also claim vat paid in another eu country if you haven’t got relief through some other vat scheme. You will need to use a standard vat reclaiming form from the HM revenue and customs or hmrc vat website that looks after the customs, excise and vat department in the United Kingdom. However, since reclaiming rules might differ abroad, you’ll need vat check the expertise of an expert vat agent well-versed in uk vat and eu vat rules to ensure that you extract vat refunds in the relevant country. Your agent can act on your behalf as soon as you let them have a power of attorney or even a letter or authority to accomplish this.
You can go in for a vat reclaim no after 9 months within a calendar year after you have paid the vat amount. You may first need to register your business name and also your agent?s name too in case you plan on reclaiming vat using your agent. You should use the hm vat refunds service that’s a part of the vat online services offered by the hmrc vat website so as to reduce time and effort. Once you submit the required online vat form you will be issued a web based reference number that may indicate that the request has been received by the vat refund department.
While you will not need to send any paper documents, certain eu countries might request a scanned vat invoice to be attached with your vat refund request. Once you have sent your reclaiming request hmrc will send a confirmation about the same within 15 days while the concerned eu country will usually provide you with a vat refund within 4 months, if all of your documents are typically in proper order. In the event any further details are required from that eu country you’ll be able to expect your vat reclaim to be settled after around 8 months of the original application.
To prevent the situation of double taxation, most eu countries which have adopted vat including the UK offer vat refunds that can be claimed by following proper procedures and using proper applications. You also can claim back vat paid in almost any other eu country that follows vat by reclaiming vat back from that eu country by using the vat refund scheme.