The study evaluates the implementation of the current regime by tax administrations and highlights potential problems and areas of difficulties encountered by taxable persons in making VAT refund claims.
The first part of the study focuses on the conformity of national legislations both with the directive for cross-border intra-EU refunds (EC-2008/9) and with the CJEU case law related to domestic refund. It should be noted that, even if there is no harmonised legislation for domestic refund, the CJEU has identified limits to the freedom of Member States that have to be respected in any case.
The second part analyses the level of implementation of the law and tries to identify and quantify the consequences of such implementation highlighting problems and/or obstacles that taxable persons and VAT refund agents are facing while claiming refund of VAT both in the Member State of establishment and in another Member State. The study takes also into account the perspective and the difficulties of national tax administrations in administering and controlling such claims.
The Commission will carefully examine the results and, in close cooperation with the EU Member States, will put in place the best strategies and solutions for possible inconsistencies of legislation and for an effective implementation of the law.
Source: EC
