VAT: Express refunds to businesses and professionals - Who are affected

Returns-Express VAT to businesses and professionals through automated procedures is activated by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue by the end of the year, with a view to enhancing market liquidity.

It is about one of the five key projects in the field of taxation that have joined the National Recovery Plan and will create the new digital tax office. The new transaction system will reduce human intervention and the administrative and bureaucratic obstacles that are a barrier to VAT refunds.

Professionals and businesses will submit their request online and will be informed by e-mail when their case is forwarded for processing without verification.

The aim is for the express refunds to gradually cover the vast majority of requests submitted on the platform.

The objectives of the reform

The main objectives of the reform are:

• The acceleration of VAT refunds, which today often suffer significant delays.
• Tackling VAT refund fraud based on risk analysis principles.
• The automation and digitisation of processes without human intervention.
• The achievement of the target for immediate VAT refund, without control on 97% of applications
• Supporting prudent business and increasing transparency.

The speeding up of procedures for VAT refunds is also helped by the activation of the myData e-books through which the tax authorities have a complete overview of the data displayed in their e-books by both issuers and recipients of documents. With the new system, the tax authorities know the amount to be collected each month, thus enabling the activation of the automated income tax and VAT refunds to which punctual businesses are entitled.

Which businesses are ahead in the VAT refund

Today, VAT is refunded more quickly in businesses that have been audited in the past and found no evidence of involvement in fraud.

Businesses must meet the following criteria in order to be the first to receive tax refunds:

1. Have been audited for at least three tax periods and the total amount refunded after audits does not differ from the total amount claimed by more than 5%.
2. Not have committed any tax or customs offences.
3. Not to be identified as suspected of involvement in fraud involving intra-Community transactions, following the application of risk analysis criteria, which are considered centrally and exclusively and are not made public.

Delays in VAT refund

The latest European Parliament report showed that in Greece businesses wait even more than half a year to collect from the State the VAT refund to which they are entitled. Our country together with Italy and Cyprus record the worst times for VAT refunds, depriving businesses of valuable liquidity at a particularly difficult time for restarting and «recovering from the damage» of the pandemic.

Figures show that Italy is 62 weeks late with VAT refunds, Cyprus 43 and Greece 31 weeks. According to the report, it takes an average EU business more than 9 hours to comply with VAT refund procedures and more than 17 weeks to receive a VAT refund.