Refund claims relating to the 2017 calendar year must be made on or before 30 September 2018.

Businesses that charge VAT on their supplies or would be liable to do so if their customers were in the same country are generally entitled to recover any VAT which they incur on their costs of making those supplies. In relation to domestic inputs, deduction is achieved by offsetting the input tax on expenses against output tax on taxable supplies, and then accounting for the net amount on a return to the taxation authorities. A different mechanism and time-limit applies to recovering VAT incurred in other EU jurisdictions.

Irish VAT registered businesses which have correctly incurred deductible VAT in another European Union (‘EU’) jurisdiction can seek to recover that VAT by submitting an EVR claim. Refund claims relating to the 2017 calendar year must be made on or before 30 September 2018.

Such claims can be made by the business itself or can be made on its behalf by an agent via Revenue Online Service (‘ROS’). Irish Revenue will then direct the claim to the taxation authorities of the jurisdiction in which the foreign VAT was incurred.

Detailed information (including particulars of the nature of the goods or services acquired) is required to file an EVR claim.

It is important to note that such claims are governed by the VAT recovery rules in the country in which the VAT was incurred. So, for example, where an Irish VAT registered person correctly incurs French VAT on a transaction, such VAT will only be recoverable if the French VAT rules provide for input deduction. Differences arise in this area between EU countries so claimants should be aware of such variations in advance of submitting EVR clams. Deloitte’s high-level summary guide outlining the VAT recovery rules of each EU jurisdiction can be found by clicking here.

Should you have any queries on this area or would like our assistance with the preparation of or submission of an EVR claim, please do not hesitate to contact us.