Claiming refund of Dutch VAT for entrepreneurs from EU countries

You wish to claim a refund of VAT charged to you as an entrepreneur. You can reclaim Dutch VAT over the past 5 years. Your request for a refund of Dutch VAT should be made in digital form to the tax authorities of the EU country in which you are established.

Confirmation of receipt

Have you applied for a refund in your own country? If so, the tax authorities of that country will pass on your application to the Dutch Tax Department. The Dutch Tax Department will send confirmation of receipt to the email address that you have given under company details in your application for a refund.

Are you still waiting for confirmation of receipt 1 month after submitting your application? In that case you should contact your own tax department or the Tax Information Line Non-resident Tax Issues in the Netherlands.

What is the status of my application?

Have you submitted a refund application and would like to know the status of your application? If so, call the Tax Information Line Non-resident Tax Issues in the Netherlands.

When will I receive a decision and my refund?

You will receive a decision on your application from the Dutch Tax Department within 4 months of submitting your application. The decision will state whether your application has been approved, rejected or partially approved. If your refund is approved the Dutch Tax Department will pay the due amount to you within 10 days at the latest of the end of this four-month period. In some cases more information will be needed to assess your application. In that case a period other than the four-month period may apply.

Do you owe any tax in the Netherlands? If so, we can set off this tax debt against the payable tax and it may take longer before you receive the remaining amount of the refund. We will inform you if we intend to set off your refund against a payable amount.

Late decision or payment

If you receive the decision or the payment late, you should contact  the Tax Information Line Non-resident Tax Issues in the Netherlands. If the payment term has elapsed and you have not yet received your refund, you will be eligible for an interest payment.

Written VAT-refund application to the Dutch tax authorities

If submitting a digital application is no longer possible, you may sometimes be able to submit a written VAT-refund application to the Dutch Tax Authorities. Do you have any questions on submitting a written refund application for Dutch VAT? In that case, you may contact the Tax Information Line Non-resident Tax Issues

Unjustified refund

Has it become apparent that you unjustly received a refund? Then we can impose an additional VAT tax assessment up to 5 years after the end of the year in which the refund was made. You may also receive a fine.