Residents of the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla
We inform you how to recover the VAT paid for purchases you have made in the peninsula or the Balearic Islands
VAT refund. Residents of the city of Ceuta
Upon arrival in Ceuta, as soon as you disembark, you must go to Customs or the Tax Office of the Civil Guard, which, after verifying your identity and the goods documented in the Electronic Refund Document (DER) or invoice DIVA , will proceed to electronically fill in the date of entry of the goods into the Autonomous City, thus obtaining an electronic “pre-seal” prior to the definitive electronic validation of the DER.
The Ceuta tax services, through electronic procedures and after receiving the corresponding data from the DER, will proceed to settle the IPSI corresponding to the purchases made and will send the traveler the tax payment letter so that they can proceed with its payment.
The traveler does not have to carry out any procedure before the Ceuta Customs since the Ceuta tax services will send electronically to the Customs the data of those Electronic Refund Documents (DER) that are "pre-visased" electronically and, in turn, the liquidation and payment of the IPSI has been carried out.
Customs, after receiving this information from the tax services of the autonomous city and carrying out the appropriate checks, will proceed to the final electronic sealing of the DER . The DER will then be approved by Customs.
The traveller will have to send the DER endorsed by Customs to the supplier, who will refund the fee charged within the following fifteen days by check, bank transfer, credit card or other means that allows proof of reimbursement. Since the system is electronic, some providers process the refund directly by verifying the valid Customs visa, others request that the traveler prove the valid Customs visa, sending the documentation via email, or by traditional correspondence.
The tax refund may also be made through collaborating entities authorized by the State Agency for Tax Administration. Travelers must present the electronic refund documents endorsed by Customs to said entities, which will pay the corresponding amount, stating the traveler's consent.
No. The entire procedure is recorded electronically and it is an essential requirement that the operation be documented in an Electronic Refund Document (DER) or invoice DIVA .
No. The entire procedure is recorded electronically and it is an essential requirement that the operation be documented in an Electronic Refund Document (DER) or invoice DIVA .
However, the retail establishment cannot deny you your right to a refund nor can it refuse to issue the DER. In this regard, the Binding Consultations of the General Directorate of Taxes V0564-20 and V1978-20.
The seller must issue the corresponding invoice and an electronic refund document (ERD), available at the e-Office of the Tax Agency, in which the goods purchased and the corresponding tax must be stated separately.
Thus, the issuance of the electronic reimbursement document by the seller is not configured as an optional or discretionary circumstance for the seller but as a genuine legal obligation at the same level as the obligation to issue an invoice.
The seller's refusal to issue the electronic refund document, which is required by law and regulations, could be considered a tax dispute so that the consultant could file the corresponding economic-administrative claim before the Local Economic-Administrative Court of Ceuta or Melilla, a body that does not depend on the AEAT .
Neither the VAT nor the IPSI regulations regulate this period. The traveller's request may entail the seller's obligation to rectify the transferred fees, for which he has a maximum period of 4 years from the moment in which the Tax corresponding to the operation was accrued.
In accordance with the above, the traveller must send the invoice to the supplier within four years from the accrual of the transaction documented therein, so that said supplier can fulfil the obligation to rectify the assessed fees stated therein. After this period, the supplier will not be obliged to rectify these fees or return the amount thereof.
Therefore, the IPSI settlement and the corresponding Customs visa must be made available to the seller within 4 years from the purchase (see query 0348-02 of the General Directorate of Taxes).
Please note that, as the procedure is electronic and there is a maximum period of 3 months for purchases to reach Ceuta or Melilla, registering transactions outside this period requires manual actions that may lengthen the processing by several days.