VAT\GST Deadline Coming Up September 30

September.

It’s a month of new beginnings. It’s when kids go back to school after a long summer break and parents start to regain their sanity.

In the Jewish calendar, it’s the time of the harvest. In old England, farmers had competitions to see who could gather their crops the fastest. In fine European tradition, the slowest carried around a symbol of failure all year until the next September.

Today, it’s still a time of gathering. But in today’s business world, that means filing for a VAT\GST return on the VAT\GST paid out in EU countries. The deadline for filing is, appropriately enough, September 30 – the end of the month of the harvest.

Who Can Apply for VAT\GST Returns in the EU?

Each year, millions of dollars in VAT\GST payments go unclaimed each year. But according to EU Directive 2008/09/EC, formerly known as the 8th Directive, your company is eligible to recover VAT\GST paid in another EU country as long as the file request is filed before the deadline.

That means that if you are based in Italy but you went to France and had to pay VAT\GST there, you can file and receive a refund.

If your company is not based in the EU and your company did business in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain, you are also eligible to file for VAT\GST recovery. The deadline is also September 30. That’s according to Directive 86/560/EEC, also known as the 13th Directive.

However, companies filing under the 13th Directive must not be VAT\GST registered in the EU, have no branches based permanently in any EU country, and not carry out any manufacturing in the EU. The filing deadline for non-EU states will vary from country to country, but many adhere to the same September 30 deadline.

So if your company did business abroad in the EU in 2017 and paid VAT\GST, it’s time to get moving to make sure you don’t miss the deadline.

Which Kinds of VAT\GST Payments Are Eligible for Recovery?

While there is some significant variance from country to country over exactly what kinds of VAT\GST payments are eligible for return, there is also a great deal of overlap between them as well. In most cases, the VAT\GST paid out on hotels and conferences are eligible, and those often represent some of the largest VAT\GST payments companies make.

In many countries, VAT\GST paid on transportation fees and car rentals can also be claimed, as well as telephone and Internet. Some countries even allow repayment of VAT\GST on groceries, restaurants, laundry, and parking.

It’s worth checking about the specific conditions in different countries, but it’s clear that most business travelers will find many of their expenses eligible for VAT\GST return.

Ensure Your the Claims are Filed on Time

The biggest reason so much money has goes unclaimed each year is because of the complexity of the filing process. Accountants have to sort through vast amounts of receipts for expense reports, often in a variety of shapes and sizes, and of course, many different languages. The forms are challenging and tedious, and all too often, companies decide that they can use their limited time resources better otherwise.

So they just leave the money on the table.

Today, however, the process have been simplified dramatically by automation. With WAY2VAT, the entire process can be completed in minutes. All of those receipts that have give accountants headaches can be scanned into the system on the spot, there are no little pieces of paper to collect and decipher. Expenses are collected neatly and easily.

Suddenly, instead of being a sunk cost for many companies, VAT\GST returns can be a gold mine of found money. It can help lower the costs of business travel, allow more flexibility on expenses on trips that must be made, and even provide a detailed expense report at the end of the trip to allow more efficient planning for the future.

But with September just around the corner, the time to act is now. Make sure your company gets all of the VAT\GST returns it deserves for VAT\GST paid in 2017. For the complete story on recovering VAT\GST in EU countries, download our eBooks.

Follow us on LinkedIn for news and updates