No excusable delay in the event of late VAT refund requests

• Deadline for VAT Refund Application: The Court of Appeal ruled that X BV should have submitted its VAT refund application by the first quarter of 2013, as it was clear by early 2013 that payment from B BV was unlikely following its bankruptcy.
• No Excusable Delay: The court found no excusable delay in X BV’s application for a refund, emphasizing that the company had sufficient information regarding the non-collectability of debts related to B BV, which should have prompted timely action.
• Error in Cash Accounting System: The director of X BV made an error in using the cash accounting system, mistakenly believing that the VAT debt ceased to exist after B BV’s bankruptcy. This error was deemed the responsibility of X BV, impacting their ability to claim the refund.

Source Taxlive

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VAT Refund Request Denied Due to Late Submission: Court of Appeal Decision 2025

• The case concerns [belanghebbende] B.V., which requested a VAT refund of €98,000 for Q1 2013.
• The tax inspector declared the refund requests inadmissible because they were submitted too late.
• All subsequent objections and appeals by [belanghebbende] were rejected by both the lower court and the Court of Appeal.
• The court found no excusable reason for missing the deadline.
• The decision is based on Articles 29 and 31 of the Dutch VAT Act (Wet op de omzetbelasting 1968).

Source: uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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