Refund of fees borne by the Armed Forces of any Member State other than Spain for acquisitions linked to efforts made in the field of the common security and defense policy

With effect from July 1, 2022, the exemption from Value Added Tax is established for imports, internal operations and for intra-community acquisitions of goods carried out by the armed forces of any Member State other than Spain, for the use of said forces or civilian personnel at their service, or to supply their dining rooms or canteens, whenever said forces are involved in a defense effort carried out to carry out a Union activity in the field of the common security and safety policy. defending.

The above exemptions have been developed by the Regulation developing the tax exemptions relating to the Armed Forces of the Member States of the European Union affected by a defense effort in the field of the common security and defense policy and The procedure for its application is established, approved by Royal Decree 443/2023, of June 13.

In relation to exemptions in internal and intra-community operations, article 5 of the aforementioned regulation establishes two procedures for the application of these exemptions: a direct exemption procedure after obtaining the corresponding certificate and a return or reimbursement procedure that requires the prior request of the beneficiary.

Regarding the return procedure, it will be used in those cases where the certificate is not possible at the time of the operation.

Said refund will be requested by presenting form 381 . Said presentation will be made mandatory electronically through the internet.

Requests for refunds must refer to the fees paid in each calendar quarter and will be submitted within six months following the end of the period to which they correspond. Exceptionally, applications corresponding to the third and fourth quarters of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023 will be submitted during the submission period corresponding to the second quarter of 2023.

With the submission of the form, a file with an electronic copy of the following documents must be attached:

• Invoices

• Certificate justifying the granting by the competent authorities of the Member State to which the armed forces belong of the right to acquire goods or services with exemption. 

However, the completion of the list of invoices may be replaced by the presentation of a file with the list of invoices.