When someone fuels up abroad for their business, they often assume that the VAT refund works the same everywhere: keep the receipt, claim the percentage, done. That is not correct. Directive 2008/9 governs the portal and the procedure, but leaves it to each refund country to decide what portion of the VAT on fuel is actually granted. Germany treats diesel for vans differently than Italy treats petrol for a passenger car, and France has its own exceptions for hired vehicles.
The result is that the same fuel receipt is refunded at one hundred percent in one country and only partially in another. This has nothing to do with errors in the application, but with the national deduction rules that the refund country applies to its own VAT — even if the applicant is a Dutch entrepreneur.
Why the refund country sets the rules, not the Netherlands
The idea behind the EU refund is that an entrepreneur is treated the same as a local entrepreneur in that country. A German entrepreneur who fuels up in Germany is subject to German deduction restrictions for passenger vehicles. If a Dutch entrepreneur claims back that same German VAT, exactly the same restrictions apply — not the Dutch ones. This means that the Dutch VAT system is actually not relevant for this refund: the refund country assesses the request against its own rules, as set out in the Requirements list that the Tax Authority publishes per country.
The difference between passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles
Most differences between countries lie in how they treat passenger vehicles that can also be used privately. Some countries allow a fixed deduction percentage for these, for example half of the VAT on fuel, regardless of actual business use. Other countries largely exclude fuel for passenger vehicles from refund, while fuel for vans, lorries, or vehicles used exclusively for business purposes is fully eligible. A plumbing business driving through Germany in a van is in a different category than a sales representative travelling to a trade fair in France in a leased passenger car.
Fuel type and fuelling method
The fuel type itself also matters. Not every country treats diesel, petrol, LPG and electric charging the same in its deduction rules. A few countries have separate provisions for fuel paid for via a fuel card, because the invoice then appears in the name of the fuel card company rather than in the name of the entrepreneur. This does not affect the percentage rate, but does determine whether the receipt is accepted as valid proof. Anyone in doubt about a specific receipt should submit it to a VAT specialist or consult the official publication of the relevant refund country.
Rental and lease vehicles
With rented or leased vehicles, there is another layer. Some countries assess the VAT on fuel for a rental car differently than for a vehicle owned by the business, for example because the rental costs themselves fall under a separate cost category with its own restrictions. For an entrepreneur who occasionally rents a car for a foreign assignment, this means that the fuel receipt and the rental invoice may be assessed differently, even though they relate to the same trip.
What this means in practice
For most SMEs, the practical consequence is not that they need to learn these rules by heart, but that the outcome of a VAT refund request can differ by country without anything going wrong with the receipt or the application. A lower approved amount than expected is in many cases a matter of national deduction rules, not an administrative error. Those who want to see how this plays out for their own travel patterns can request a first indication in a few questions before spending time collecting receipts.
Because these differences are established per refund country and do not necessarily follow a logical sequence, the platform automatically checks each expense category against what the respective country allows, based on the Requirements list and the publications of the tax authority itself. How this check is structured in detail is described on the page about where the information comes from. For a more comprehensive overview of all situations involving fuel, hotels, tolls and exhibition costs, see the page VAT recovery sorted by situation.
This explanation is descriptive and does not replace tax advice on a specific situation; if you have doubts about an individual receipt or borderline case, a VAT specialist or the official text of the refund country is the appropriate resource. Frequently asked questions about the refund in general are compiled on the frequently asked questions page.
Those who want to know how much of their own foreign fuel costs actually qualify for refund do not need to first wade through all the national rules. The free quick scan provides a first insight within a few minutes, without obligations and without an account.