Procedure for applying for the refund

The application must be submitted using the corresponding official form approved by Order EHA /789/2010, of March 16 ( BOE of March 30):

1. Business owners and professionals not established in the territory of application of the tax, but established in the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla, must submit the form 360 of "Application for refund of Value Added Tax borne by business owners or professionals established in the territory of application of the Tax".

2. Businessmen and professionals not established in the territory of application of the tax, but established in another Member State of the Community, must submit the application form for the refund of fees borne in the territory of application of the tax by businessmen or professionals not established in said territory but established in the Community, referred to in article 5 of the aforementioned Ministerial Order, and which will be located on the electronic portal of the Tax Administration of the Member State where the applicant is established.

3. Entrepreneurs and professionals not established in the territory of application of the Tax, nor in another Member State of the Community, nor in the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla, will present the model 361 of «Application of refund of VAT to certain entrepreneurs or professionals not established in the territory of application of the Tax, nor in the Community, Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla.

These models and forms must be submitted electronically under the conditions set out in Order EHA/789/2010, of March 16, modified by Order HAP /841/2016, of May 30 ( BOE of June 2). This electronic submission can be made using a recognized electronic certificate, or through the Cl@ve system in the case of natural persons not required to use said electronic certificate.

In relation to model 361, the following documents must be included:

1. Electronic copy of the certification, issued by the competent authorities of the State where the applicant is established, which certifies that he/she carries out business or professional activities subject to Value Added Tax or a similar tax during the period to which the application refers.

2. When it is the first application submitted by a representative on behalf of a specific applicant or when the power of attorney previously provided is not valid, the application must be accompanied by an electronic copy of the original power of representation granted before a notary public in favor of a representative established in the territory of application of the tax, which must expressly state the capacity of the grantor to act on behalf of and represent the person or entity represented, the place and date on which said power is granted, the name and surname or company name, address and tax identification number of the businessperson or professional granting the power, the identifying data and address of the representative, as well as the powers conferred by said power, among which the power conferred to submit form 361 by electronic means must be expressly stated. If the representative also wishes to be approved to receive Value Added Tax refunds in his or her name on behalf of the requestor, this must be expressly stated in the power of attorney. The power of attorney must be drafted wholly in Spanish or translated by a sworn interpreter or translator. If the public notary is not Spanish, the power of attorney must include the Hague apostille. In the event that the country of residence of the notary has not signed the Hague Convention, it must be duly legalized.

   The application will not be considered submitted unless it is accompanied by the certification and the power of representation referred to in letters a) and b).

3. When the taxable base appearing on each of the invoices or import documents referred to in the application exceeds the amount of 1,000 euros in general, or 250 euros in the case of fuel, said application must be accompanied by an electronic copy of said invoices or import documents.

4. In the event that the applicant belongs to a tax group in its country of establishment and the tax identification number is unique for the entire tax group, the applicant lacking an individual identification number in the country of headquarters, together with the first application for refund of the entity, documentation of the group structure must be provided and the group identification number followed by an order number must be associated with each company in the group that intends to submit VAT refund requests in Spain.

The State Tax Administration Agency will be responsible for processing and resolving these refund requests.

When the AEAT considers that it does not have all the information it needs, it may request the necessary additional information from the applicant or from third parties, by means of a message sent electronically within the period of four months from receipt of the refund request. Likewise, said body may request any further information it deems necessary.

Likewise, when there are doubts about the validity or accuracy of the data contained in a refund request or in the electronic copy of the invoices or import documents to which it refers, the body competent to process it may, where appropriate, require the applicant to provide the originals of the same within the framework of section seven of article 119 of the Tax Law. These originals must be kept available to the Tax Authority during the limitation period for the tax.

Requests for additional or further information must be attended to by the recipient within one month of receipt.

The decision on the refund request must be adopted and notified to the applicant within four months of the date of receipt by the body responsible for adopting the request.

However, when a request for additional or further information is necessary, the decision must be adopted and notified to the applicant within two months from receipt of the requested information or from the end of one month from the date the request was made, if the request is not attended to by its recipient. In these cases, the refund procedure will last a minimum of six months from the date the request is received by the competent body to resolve it.

In any case, when a request for additional or further information is necessary, the maximum period for resolving a refund request will be eight months from the date of receipt of the request, and it will be deemed to have been rejected if, after the periods referred to in this section have elapsed, no express notification of its resolution has been received.

Once the refund has been acknowledged, it must be paid within 10 days following the end of the periods referred to in the previous section.

The total or partial rejection of the application submitted may be appealed by the applicant.