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Submitting an application for a refund of the foreign VAT via Intervat

After logging into Intervat, go to the “Dashboard” tab.

You can submit your application for a refund of the foreign VAT (= application for VAT Refund):

  • either “by file” (XML), which is advisable if you have an appropriate accounting software.
    You send via Intervat a XML file containing the data of the application
  • or “by screen”, if you do not have an appropriate accounting software.
    You enter the data of the application directly into Intervat.

How to submit an application for a VAT Refund?

  • By XML file

    1. Chargement du fichier

    In the tab “Dashboard”:

    • Download your file
    • Click on “Continue”

    You can also select the “Reload into the screen” feature if your file contains only one application. In this case, follow the procedure of submission by screen.

    2. Data validation

    If an error message appears, check the possible causes of the error.

    If your file does not comply, a new line appears in “My declarations” with the status “Rejected”.

    If your file does not contain any errors, a new line appears in “My declarations” with the status “Valid”.

    Click on check to continue with the submission of the application for VAT Refund.

    In the “Validation of the data” section, you should have no errors detected.

    Click on“Next step”.

    3. Signature

    In the last section “Summary of data entered & agreement”, click on “Signing and submission”.

    4. Acknowledgement of receipt

    When you come back to the “Dashboard” tab, you should have a new line with your application for VAT Refund with the status “Success”.

    You can download your acknowledgement of receipt by clicking on.

  • By screen

    You must fill in the following fields:

    • fields with an asterisk:  they always have to be filled in.
    • fields without an asterisk: they only have to be filled in if they concern your situation.

    One word of advice: save the application for VAT Refund regularly when entering the data.

    You can do this as soon as you get to enter the “Declaration data” by clicking on “Download the data entered” in the bottom right-hand corner.

    1. VAT number

    In the tab “Dashboard”:

    • please enter the VAT identification number of the enterprise
    • select “VAT Refund” as “Type of declaration”
    • click on “Continue”

    2. General information

    In the section “General information”:

    • Under "Taxpayer", add your e-mail address if the field is not pre-filled.


       
    • On the basis of your VAT number and the information provided via your 604A or 604B form, some sectors of activity will be pre-filled per NACE code.
      To add a sector of activity, click onplus.
      To delete a sector of activity, click on supprimer.

      You can also find the NACE codes of your company on the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises’ website.

      If your activities are out of date, you can always select them manually. The Member State concerned by the refund relies on the information it receives from the Member State where you are established and can therefore refuse an application for VAT refund on the basis of divergent data.


       
    • As “Period of the declaration”, indicate the period for which you are claiming the global VAT refund. This period can correspond to:
      • one or more quarters.
        Tick the quarter(s) and fill in the year for the period concerned.
        In the case of several quarters, these must follow one another.
        The minimum amount for submitting a quarterly application is EUR 400 of VAT paid:
        • per Member State
        • per quarter concerned (January - March, April - June, July - September, October - December).
      • a whole year.
        You can submit:
        • either a single annual application for VAT refund
        • or a quarterly application(s) and an annual application for VAT refund regarding invoices you forgot to submit quarterly.
        In both cases, do not select any quarter and fill in the year only
        The minimum amount for submitting a annually application is EUR 50 of VAT paid :
        • per Member State
        • during the year concerned (from January to December)


       

    • Complete all the data fields under the heading “Bank details for the repayments”.

    • If you are a representative, please fill in the part “Representative”.
      If you do not have a VAT or TIN number (Customs number), select “Other” and use your national number.



      Click on “Next step”.

    3. Data of the declaration

    • Pro rata basis

      You must complete the "Prorata" section if not all the costs you incurred are for your VAT deductible activity. In this case, indicate the percentage of costs related to your activity as a pro rata basis.

      This percentage will be applied to all the invoices submitted in your application for VAT Refund.

      For instance: You travelled to the EU 60% for business and 40% for leisure.

      If you enter “60” in the “Prorata basis” field, only 60% of the VAT mentioned in the documents will be refunded to your account.

      Enter an integer between 1 and 99 to be entitled to a refund.

      If you do not complete the field, the default value is 100%.

      Irrespective of your pro rata basis, each Member State may also apply certain limitations (see section ).

      If you wish to apply a pro rata basis for one Member State only, you can always submit a separate application for VAT Refund.

    • Import document

      You need to complete an import document if you have paid VAT in another Member State on the purchase of goods or services from outside the EU.

      Enter one import document per invoice. Make sure you also encode all invoices.


      To add an import document, click on plus.
      Complete the import document which opens in a separate window.
    • Purchase document

      You need to complete a purchase document if you have paid VAT in another Member State on the purchase of goods or services coming from EU.

      Enter one purchase document per invoice. Make sure you also encode all invoices.


      To add a purchase document, click on plus.
      Complete the purchase document which opens in a separate window.

    4. Attachments (invoices)

    Under “Add/Remove enclosures” you need to upload the different invoices for which you want to apply for a VAT refund.

    Collect the invoices per Member State in one file. This file will be used by the Member State as the basis for your refund.

    File format and size

    Accepted formats: PDF, TIFF and JPEG.

    The size of a file is limited to 5.2 Mo. What to do if your file exceeds this limit?

    • Scan invoices in black & white with a maximum resolution of 200 dpi. Documents scanned with a resolution of 100 dpi are perfectly readable.
    • If you have several invoices, limit the size of your file to 5.2 MB by including the invoices with the highest amounts. Keep the other invoices in a separate file.
      Include a note in the file explaining that you could not include all the invoices. Describe in detail the invoices and mention that these documents are available to the Member State of refund.
      Write the note in one of the languages accepted by the Member State (see the headingat the top of the enclosed document for that Member State).

      The Member State should contact you and give you an address to which you can send the other invoices that were not included in the file sent.

    To add/delete an attachment

    Required fields:

    • the country concerned by the refund for which the attachment is intended
    • the document in JPEG, PDF or TIFF format

    Optional field: description of the attachment.

    Click onsave to add an attachment.

    CLick on supprimer to delete an attachment.

    When all the files are attached, tick the “Click to agree” box.

    Click on “Next Step”.

    5. Comment

    You can only use this section for a general comment that is not addressed to a Member State.

    If you wish to send a comment to a Member State concerned by the refund, include an explanatory note in the file for that Member State.

    The size of comments is limited to 10,000 characters. Do not use accented or special characters such as: é, è, ç, ù, ë, É, È, &, $, *, <,>, +, | , /, \, « , », « ; »...

    Click on “Next step”.

    6. Data validation

    In the “Validation of the data entered” section, you should have no errors detected.

    If an error message appears, check the possible causes of the error. If you do not correct the error blocking the submission, your application for VAT Refund will appear with the status "Rejected".  

    You can also download the data you have entered so far.

    7. Signature

    In the last section “Summary of data entered & agreement”, click on “Signing and submission”.

    8. Acknowledgement of receipt

    When you come back to the “Dashboard” tab,  you should have a new line regarding your application for VAT refund return with the status “Success”.

    You can download your acknowledgement of receipt by clicking on.

How to complete an import or a purchase document?

  • Import document

    Complete the four following fields.

    1. Document

    • Country of refund: complete the Member State where you paid the VAT to be refunded.

      After completing this field, the link appears. 

      Click on this link before continuing the procedure in order to know:

      • the currency to be used
      • the different thresholds as from which an invoice is required
      • the list of codes and their description
      • the language(s) to be used in particular:
        • To draw up the description if you use the code “10. Others” under “Goods and services”
        • To interact with the Member State
           
    • Type of reference: tick MRN (Movement Reference Number) if it is a transit declaration which is used by European Customs to identify the imported goods.

    • Reference: mention the reference of the invoice.

    • Date: mention the date on which the invoice was sent.

    2. Supplier

    In order to identify your supplier, you must complete the following fields:

    • fields with an asterisk:  they always have to be filled in.
    • Fields without an asterisk: optional

    3. Goods and services

    To open this box, click on plus.

    In the drop-down menu, choose the goods and services for which you wish to be refunded. The goods and services are listed per code.

    For more information about the codes and their description: see .

    You can have several codes.

    To add a new code, click on plus.

    To delete a code, click on supprimer.

    Your situation does not correspond to any code?

    • Choose the code “10. Others” and add a description
    • Select the language in which you write the description using one of the languages allowed by the country of refund (see ).

    4. Transaction et deduction

    • All amounts are in...: indicate the currency that the country accepts (see ).
      Request a new invoice in the correct currency if the currency used on the invoice is different from the one of the country.

    • Tax base: mention the amount of the transaction excl. VAT

    • Amount of VAT invoiced: indicate the VAT amount for this transaction.

      If you have indicated a percentage in the “Prorata basis” field of your request, the deductible VAT amount is adjusted automatically.


    Click on “Add” when all mandatory fields have been completed to finalise the import document.

    To modify a document, click on the corresponding line.

    To complete another import document for the same supplier and country of refund, you can copy the data by clicking on icône copier un document.

    To delete a document, click on supprimer.

  • Purchase document

    Complete the four following fields

    1. Document

    • Country of refund: complete the Member State where you paid the VAT to be refunded.

      After completing this field, the link appears. 

      Click on this link before continuing the procedure in order to know:

      • the currency to be used
      • the different thresholds as from which an invoice is required
      • the list of codes and their description
      • the language(s) to be used in particular:
        • To write the description if you use the code “10. Others” under “Goods and services”
        • To interact with the Member State
           
    • Simplified invoice: tick this box if you wish to submit an invoice with the most important information and simplified content.
      Additional information.

    • Reference: indicate the reference of the invoice which will probably be the MRN (Movement Reference Number).

    • Date: mention the date on which the invoice was sent.

    2. Supplier

    There are three methods in order to identify your supplier.

    For each method, you must complete the following fields:

    • fields with an asterisk:  they always have to be filled in.
    • fields without asterisk: optional, unless the country of refund is Germany.

    You must complete all fields if the country of refund is Germany. Otherwise, the German authorities will automatically refuse your application for VAT Refund and will not refund the VAT.

    • No identification

      Use this option only if you have ticked “Simplified invoice” in the “Document” box.

      Complete the requested information.

    • VAT number

      Complete the requested information.


       
    • Other

      The "Other" option only appears if you have indicated Germany as the country of refund.
      Complete the requested information.

    3. Goods and services

    To open this box, click on plus.

    In the drop-down menu, choose the goods and services for which you wish to be refunded. The goods and services are listed per code.

    For more information about the codes and their description: see .

    You can have several codes.

    To add a new code, click on plus.

    To delete a code, click on supprimer.

    Your situation does not correspond to any code?

    • Choose the code “10. Others” and add a description
    • Select the language in which you write the description using one of the languages allowed by the country of refund (see ).

    4. Transaction et deduction

    • All amounts are in...: indicate the currency that the country accepts (see ).
      Request a new invoice in the correct currency if the currency used on the invoice is different from the one of the country.

    • Taxable amount: mention the amount of the transaction excl. VAT

    • Amount of VAT invoiced: indicate the VAT amount for this transaction.

      If you have indicated a percentage in the “Prorata basis” field of your request, the deductible VAT amount is adjusted automatically.


    Click on “Add” when all mandatory fields have been completed to finalise the purchase document.

    To modify a document, click on the corresponding line.

    To complete another purchase document for the same supplier and country of refund, you can copy the data by clicking on icône copier un document.

    To delete a document, click on supprimer.

What to check when you obtain an error message when submitting your application for VAT refund?

  • By XML file

    The XSD schema and the tags

    Check whether your XML file includes the correct XSD schema.

    Blank tags are not authorised. You have therefore to fill in each tag you mention.

    VAT number

    Your application for VAT Refund can only contain correct foreign VAT numbers. Indicate only the VAT number without the country code.

    Checking a VAT number

    The name of your file

    Do not use accented or special characters such as : é, è, ç, ù, ë, É, È, &, $, *, <,>, +, | , /, \, « , », « ; »...

    If you are using a compressed file (.VR), the name of the file must be the same in the file description and in the XML.

    The size of your file

    The size of an enclosure is limited to 5.2 MB per country of refund. If you cannot enclose all your invoices in a file of this size, please indicate this clearly in a note included in the file itself.

    The format of numbers

    Each number must have two decimal places after the decimal point (e.g. “123.40”,“456.00”)

    The format of e-mail addresses

    Check that a comma has not been used instead of a full stop in e-mail addresses. (This is a common error when using the numeric keypad, which gives a comma instead of a full stop). 

    Copy and paste

    Please avoid the copy and paste. It can result in several errors in Intervat.

    What do the icons in front of the error messages mean?

  • By screen

    The format of numbers

    Is there a space before or after the amount?

    Did you mention the two decimals?

    Mentioning all necessary information

    If you do not mention all necessary information ( confirming your e-mail, year,..) you cannot get access to the following section.

    IBAN or BIC code

    Have you entered correctly the IBAN or BIC code?

    The period concerned

    Have you selected consecutive quarters or submitted an annual application for a full year?

    The date of the invoice

    Did you select an invoice date that has already passed?

    facture : sélection d’une date de facture au-delà de la date de dépôt

    Navigating between the steps

    Use the "Previous step" and "Next step" buttons instead of the arrows barre du navigateur : flèches retour et avancer n your browser bar to move from one screen to another.

    What do the icons in front of the error messages mean?