reclaim VAT hotel Germany

Accommodation is one of the ten cost categories that qualify

VAT on a hotel overnight stay in Germany can in most cases be reclaimed via the EU portal, as part of the refund of foreign VAT. Accommodation falls under the fixed cost categories into which business expenses abroad are classified — alongside for example fuel, tolls, trade fair costs and meals. The requirement is always that the overnight stay has a business character and that the invoice is in the name of the business, with the details needed to substantiate the request.

What Germany precisely allows within this cost category, and under what conditions, is not in the directive itself but in the per-country implementation that the Tax Authority maintains. Some countries exclude certain parts of a hotel invoice — think of separate treatment of breakfast or minibar — or impose requirements on what must appear on the invoice in order for accommodation costs to be considered deductible. For Germany, specific provisions apply that may differ per case, and which can be found in the Requirements list of the Tax Authority for that country. Anyone in doubt whether a specific hotel invoice counts in full is well advised to consult that list or submit the question to a VAT specialist, especially in non-standard situations such as prolonged stay or mixed business-private use.

What this is based on

The right to reclaim foreign VAT on business costs such as accommodation follows from Council Directive 2008/9/EC, which regulates the procedure for entrepreneurs not established in the refund country. The directive sets the framework — which portal, which deadlines, which general conditions — but leaves the determination of what a Member State does or does not allow per cost category to that Member State