The Dutch Tax Authorities have issued letters to companies, representatives, and other intermediaries announcing significant changes to the 13th Directive VAT Refund Procedure. The update has also been published on their official website.
Starting from the second calendar quarter of 2026, non‑EU businesses seeking a refund of Dutch VAT will be required to submit their claims through the online portal Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk.
According to the Tax Authorities, the shift is driven by updates to their internal IT systems. However, this new digital process presents a major obstacle for non‑EU companies: logging into the portal requires eHerkenning (e‑recognition), a secure identification tool that is extremely difficult – if not practically impossible – for non‑EU businesses to obtain. While the Tax Authorities suggest using advisors or specialized software to assist with the login process, such software currently does not yet exist.
As a result, non‑EU companies that incurred Dutch VAT‑bearing expenses in 2025 and intend to reclaim this VAT are strongly advised to submit their refund applications as soon as possible, using the current method. This involves sending all relevant invoices along with the hard‑copy refund form directly to the Tax Authorities.
Further details on the existing refund procedure, as well as the announcement regarding the new digital process, can be found HERE.
From the editor: If you are aware of any software that allows non-EU companies to submit a VAT Refund claim without eHerkenning, we would be interested to hear from you.
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