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VAT refunds to non-residents

Frequently asked questions on claiming a refund of input VAT in a State other than the State of establishment (VAT Refund)

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Who can use this procedure

  1. Business people or professionals not established in the territory of application of the Tax but established in the EU or outside it, Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla, may request a refund of the Value Added Tax amounts that they have borne on acquisitions or imports of goods or services carried out in that territory. For these purposes, not established in the territory where the tax applies includes business people or professionals who possess a permanent establishment located in said territory, but who do not deliver goods or provide services from this establishment during the period referred to in the application.

    Likewise, entrepreneurs or professionals established in the territory of application of the Tax may request and obtain a refund of the VAT incurred in other Member States in accordance with the regulations of said States.

  2. Business people or professionals applying for refunds cannot have carried out supplies of goods or services subject to the tax in the territory of application of the tax other than those listed below:

    1. Supplies of goods and services in which the taxable persons are the recipients of the tax, in accordance with the provisions of numbers 2, 3 and 4 of section 1 of Article 84 of this Law.

    2. Transport services and their ancillary services that are exempt from the Tax by virtue of the provisions of Articles 21, 23, 24 and 64 of this Law.

    Nor may they be the recipients of supplies of goods or services in respect of which they are taxable persons by virtue of Article 84(1)(2) and (4) of this Law.

  3. All the requirements and limitations established in Chapter I of Title VIII of Law 37/1992 for the exercise of the right to deduct, in particular those contained in Articles 95 and 96 thereof, must be complied with.

  4. To use the goods acquired or imported or the services for which they have received in the territory where the tax applies for the purpose of carrying out transactions giving rise to the right to deduct in accordance with the provisions of the legislation in force in the Member State in which they are established and in accordance with the rate of deduction applicable in that State.