Applying for a refund of VAT paid abroad
Deadline: 30 September
Deadline for claiming VAT paid outside Denmark is 30 September the year after you bought the goods or services.
If you or one of your employees travels outside Denmark for purposes relating to your business, you will have a number of travelling expenses, including hotel stays. You pay non-Danish VAT on such expenses but you can't claim the VAT in your business VAT accounts. But you can often apply for a VAT refund.
To get a VAT refund:
- Your business has to be registered for VAT, but not in the country where you bought the goods or services.
- The goods or services you bought have to relate to your business activities subject to VAT.
You can apply to get a full or partial VAT refund from the relevant country.
Expenses on EU purchases
Typically, you can get a VAT refund for:
- passenger transport
- fuel
- hotel accommodation
- restaurant visits
- access to trade fairs
The rules of the relevant EU country determine whether you can get a refund. You can only get a VAT refund on amounts exceeding the minimim limit in the relevant EU country.
See rules and limits of the different EU countries (ec.europa.eu)
If the supplier has charged VAT by mistake, you must contact the supplier.
You can apply for a VAT refund yourself or you can leave the job to other businesses (representatives).
If you want to apply on behalf of others or if you want others to apply for you, you have to make sure everybody has the right access before you register your business for VAT refund.
Who applies for the VAT refund?
To apply for a VAT refund, your business needs to be registered for VAT refund in E-tax for businesses.
Step-by-step guide: How to register your business for VAT refund
- Log on to E-tax for businesses
- Select Profile information and contact details
- Select Contact details and registration information
- Select See and change your general contact details
- You select Momsrefusion (VAT refund)
- Enter the relevant information
- Click Accept
You have now been approved to apply for VAT refunds.
Your application must:
- Cover a period of at least 3 months and no more than a calendar year.
- be submitted to us no later than 30 September the year after you purchased the goods or services.
Some EU countries require that you attack invoices for your purchases. If you need to attach invoices, it will say so in E-tax for businesses when you apply for a VAT refund. Please note that not all countries accept simplified invoices.
You apply for a VAT refund in E-tax for businesses. You need to submit your application no later than 30 September the year after you purchased the goods or services.
Step-by-step guide: How you apply for a VAT refund
- Log on to E-tax for businesses using MitID or E-tax password
- Select VAT
- Select VAT refund (VAT paid in other countries
- Click Opret ny ansøgning (Make new application)
- Enter information about your business under "Indtast stamdata" (Master data)
- Enter information about the application under "Opret ansøgning" (Make application)
- Tell us about your purchases under "Indtast købsoplysninger" (Enter purchase information). Here, you can either enter information manually or you can upload a file. Read more about how you upload files here under "Sådan vedhæfter du en fil med købsoplysninger" (How to upload a file containing purchase information).
- Select Send ansøgning (Send application) under "Ansøgningsoversigt" (Application overview)
If your purchase is from another EU country than Denmark
When you have applied for a VAT refund, we send the applicaiton on to the authorities of the relevant EU country.
You will find a list of codes used by the various EU countries on the European Commission website.
There, you can also get a list of relevant codes as an Excel file. To get this file, click ’Export Selection’. The box tells you where to search for the different codes.
Read more: VAT Refund Codes (ec.europa.eu)
On that page, you click on VAT refunds - information requirements in the EU country of refund.
Add the VAT from the invoices and state a total VAT amount in your application. Add more types of goods by selecting Tilføj specifikation and select another type of goods.
If your business has a partial right to deduct VAT in Denmark, you are only entitled to a partial VAT refund. You must therefore state last year’s deduction rate in your application for a VAT refund. For example, if the deduction rate is 80%, enter 80 in the ’Pro rata-sats’ (Pro rata rate) field in your application. If the deduction rate is changed, you must change the pro rata rate.
The pro rata rate must also be applied if the purchase only entitles you to a limited deduction according to the other EU country’s rules. As a Danish business, you should apply the Danish rules to calculate the deduction rate.
Read more about VAT deductions.
When you enter purchase information you can either upload a CSV file or enter the information manually.
Step-by-step guide: How to transfer purchase information via file
- Create a file with purchase information. You can use this Danish-language template to create a purchase information file (excel).
- Save the file in the correct format (ses system instructions on file transfers)
- Upload your file under "Indtast købsoplysninger" (Enter purchase information) in your application process in E-tax for businesses. See file requirements below this guide.
File requirements
When you upload a file it has to meet the following requirements:
- File name may not contain æ, ø, å or special characters.
- File format must be pdf, jpg or tiff. You can't use the same invoice twice in your application.
- Size is maximum 5 MB. You can zip the file it it's too big.
You can change your application in E-tax for businesses and submit it again.
Step-by-step guide: How to correct your application
- Log on to E-tax for businesses
- Select VAT
- Select VAT refund (VAT paid in other countries)
- Click 'Se og rediger i eksisterende ansøgninger' (See and edit existing applications)
- Select the relevant application
- Edit your application
- Click Send. Next, you will see a receipt.
You may risk that your application for a VAT refund in another EU country is rejected or that you only get a partial VAT refund. When you get the response to your application you can get a number of application rejection codes to explain the reason the rejection.
In the event of a complete rejection of your application for a VAT refund, you may receive the following codes:
01 = Application period is invalid.
02 = The amount applied for is below the minimum amount for the period.
03 = Business codes must be written as NACE codes. A NACE code is the same as the sector code for your business. You can find the sector code on the registration certificate for your business issued by the Danish Business Authority (Erhvervsstyrelsen) or at datacvr.virk.dk/data (virk.dk).
04 = Bank details are not recognisable, are incorrect or are incomplete.
05 = The reported business activities require that a pro rata rate be fixed. A pro rata rate states whether the business’s right of deduction for VAT is 100% or less (partial right of deduction).
06 = It appears that the applicant has supplied goods or services in the country from which a VAT refund has been applied for and that the applicant is not covered by the statutory exemption defined in Article 3 of Council Directive 2008/9/EC of 12 February 2008.
07 = The applicant is registered for VAT in the country from which a VAT refund is applied for.
99 = Other.
In case of rejection of an application for a VAT refund for a single purchase (partial approval):
20 = The invoice or import document has already been processed in another VAT refund application.
21 = The currency used is not the national currency of the country from which a VAT refund has been applied for.
22 = The type of goods and services must be specified.
23 = The type of goods and services must be clearly stated in the application when code ‘10’ is used.
24 = The purchase of goods and services was not made in Denmark.
25 = The item has not been imported into Denmark.
40 = The supplier’s VAT registration number or tax registration number is unknown or was not active for the specified date.
41 = The supplier’s name and address do not correspond to the VAT registration number or tax registration number provided.
42 = The information provided about the supplier is different from the information specified in the import/invoice document.
60 = A copy of the import/invoice document is required.
61 = The original requested import/invoice document was not submitted in due time.
62 = The import/invoice document appears to be a forgery.
63 = The import/invoice document is illegible.
70 = Requested supplementary information has not been submitted on time.
80 = The information provided is incorrect in relation to the information provided by the competent authority in the country in which the applicant is established. A pro rata rate states whether the business’s right of deduction for VAT is 100% or less (partial right of deduction).
81 = The tax base or/and tax amount specified in the request is not that stated in the import/invoice document.
82 = The amount applied for does not correspond to a paid VAT (the application is not for the VAT amount stated in the invoice).
83 = The type of goods and services does not entitle the applicant to a VAT refund in connection with the stated business activity.
84 = The classification code or sub-code does not match the supplied service/item specified in the import/invoice document.
85 = The deductible VAT amount is limited to a given percentage based on the stated type of goods and services.
95 = The application has only been partially processed - not a final decision.
99 = Other.
If you have questions about your application after you've submitted it, you need to contact the tax authorities of the country from where you want to apply for a VAT refund. Remember to state the application reference number.
See contact information: VAT Refund Contact Points (ec.europa.eu)
Expenses on non-EU purchases
If you want to apply for a VAT refund from a non-EU country, most often you have to submit a form to the tax authorities of the relevant country. You get the form by contacting the relevant embassy in Denmark.
For further legal information in Danish see our legal guide .