VAT refunds in Portugal: online claims submission avaliable
As in many EU countries, Portugal used to require 13th Directive refund claims to be submitted on paper.
These claims would attach paper invoices and all relevant supporting documentation. The authorities have just announced creation of a web portal to submit claims of VAT refunds in Portugal. The new procedure will be in place for VAT incurred in 2016, so it will not apply to VAT refund claims for 2015 period due by 30 September this year.
Germany was the first country to announce the electronic submission of 13th Directive claims last April. 13th Directive claims allow non-EU businesses to recover VAT incurred while not VAT registered in an EU country. The conditions change from one country to another and the procedure is also different depending on the jurisdiction where VAT was incurred.
This procedure is much simpler for EU businesses incurring VAT in another Member State while not VAT registered. There are consistent rules across the EU allowing these companies to recover VAT through their home country under standard time limits. In our Hot VAT topics, we explain the difference between recovering VAT in the VAT return against recovering VAT through EU VAT refunds or 13th Directive refund claims.