How much VAT are you leaving behind abroad?
You fuel up in Germany, stay in a hotel in Milan, pay tolls in France or rent a stand at a trade fair in Cologne. On all those invoices you pay that country's VAT — and you cannot deduct it in your Dutch return. But you can claim it back, from all 26 EU countries, through a single Dutch Tax and Customs Administration portal. Most small business owners don't do it, because it requires portal work per country and per period. We take that work off your hands.
Six questions, roughly two minutes. No account, no VAT number, no obligation.
What business owners say about this
"Surely that's far too much hassle for a few euros?"
That's true for a single fuel receipt. But we're talking about a whole year, and all countries combined. If you cross the border monthly to fuel up and stay overnight a couple of times, you'll exceed the threshold easily. The threshold is € 50 per country per year — you'll hit that sooner than you think.
What are the thresholds? →"My accountant handles that, doesn't he?"
Usually not. Your accountant handles your Dutch return; foreign VAT runs through a separate portal with its own login, and it's work per country with its own deadline. Most firms don't include that for small amounts.
How filing works →"I'll do it next year."
You can do that once. VAT you paid in one year must be claimed back before 1 October of the following year. After that it's gone for good — there is no hardship clause for late filing.
The 1 October deadline →Why you can check us
Our country information comes from the official list Requirements for VAT refund request from other EU countries from the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration, supplemented by Directive 2008/9/EC itself and the European Commission's database. Under each page you'll find which source applies and the date we checked it. If those sources change, the page changes too — and you'll see that from the date.
The texts are written with AI, checked by a technical review that traces every amount and every deadline back to a source, and approved by a person before they go live. See how we work.
What this is not: we are the executor and information source, not a tax advisor. We do not provide advice on your personal situation, perform no VAT registrations or returns in other countries, and conduct no objection or appeal procedures. Any amount you see here is always an indication: it only becomes money if the refund country grants it. At present we act on behalf of entrepreneurs established in the Netherlands.
First see what it means for you
Six questions about how you travel, and you'll know whether it's worthwhile. Only then do you decide anything.
Work out what you're leaving behind