Germany Denies Input-VAT Refund Upon Supposedly Incomplete Application

The Cologne Tax Court has supported the Revenue's decision to disallow an input-VAT refund in cases, where some of the fields on the official refund application form were left blank (reference number: 2 K 4627/06, 2 K 813/10, 2 K 354/10).

Non EU residents are, under certain preconditions, entitled to a refund of VAT they paid, which they have to apply for with the Federal Tax Office. EU residents can apply through their national authorities, who will transfer such application to the respective German authorities. Non EU-members can only apply until June 30 of the following years, whereas EU members can apply until September 30, 2011 for input VAT paid in 2010.

The forms required for such application contain several queries on the use of the acquired products and their purpose. In the past, many applicants left these fields (no. 9a through 9c) blank, when claiming a full refund, as they believed the application to stand for itself. This has been successful in several