VAT refunds to non-residents

Applications from business people from outside the European Union

These refund applications are included in the procedure established in Directive 86/560/EEC of 17 November 1986 of the Council of the European Communities.

Therefore, applications for the refund of VAT paid in Spain will continue to be filed directly in the Member State of Refund (in this case the Spanish State).

The presentation must be carried out online in all cases.

It is a prior mandatory requirement that applicants designate a representative established within the territory where the tax applies, who shall fulfil the corresponding formal or procedural obligations and shall be jointly and severally liable in cases of undue refunds. This representative shall be responsible for electronically filing the refund application.

Before filing, the following documents must be delivered by registered or registered mail addressed to the National Tax Management Office, calle Lérida Nº 32-34,-28020 Madrid (Spain):

1. A certificate issued by the relevant authorities in the Country where the taxpayer is established, stating that business or professional activities subject to Value Added Tax or an equivalent tax have been carried out in that Country during the period that the request pertains to.

2. Original power of attorney granted before a notary public in favour of a resident representative, in which it must be expressly stated , the capacity of the grantor to act on behalf of and represent the person or entity represented, the place and the date on which said power of attorney is grants, the name and surname or company name, address and tax identification number of the employer or professional who confers power, the identifying details and the representative's address, as well as the powers conferred by this power of attorney, among which it must be expressly stated the power granted to you to file form 361 online. If the representative also intends to be enabled to receive the Value Added Tax refunds on his/her behalf, he/she must expressly state this in that power. The power of attorney must be drafted wholly in Spanish or translated by a sworn interpreter or translator. If the Notary Public is not Spanish, the power of attorney must carry the Hague Apostille. In the event that the Notary's country of residence has not subscribed to the Hague Convention, it must be duly legalised.

   However, employers or professionals who adhere to some of the special one-stop shop schemes applicable to distance sales and for certain internal deliveries of goods and services, they will not be obliged to appoint a representative before the Tax Administration for these purposes, provided that payments have been made in the acquisition of goods and services that are intended to carry out the operations covered by these schemes.

No reciprocity of treatment is required in the country of establishment of the applicant employer or professional, in relation to the goods and services indicated below:

1. Templates, moulds and equipment acquired or imported to be used in the manufacture of goods that are exported to the non-established employer or professional or destroyed.

2. Services regarding access, the hospitality industry, restaurant services and transportation linked to the attendance at fairs, congresses and exhibitions of a commercial or professional nature that are held in the territory in which the tax is applied (Peninsula and Balearic Islands).

3. Employers or professionals not established in the Community that adhere to any of the special one-stop shop schemes applicable to sales to distance and certain internal deliveries of goods and services, they will have the right to the refund of the VAT payments borne by the acquisition or import of goods and services that must be understood as carried out in the territory of application of the tax, provided that these goods and services are intended to carry out the operations covered by these schemes.