VAT refunds with automated assessment – What you need to know

The procedure for the automated assessment of VAT refund applications for expenses incurred in Greece by companies established in another Member State is specified in a decision by the Governor of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (IAPR), Giorgos Pitsilis.

The Pitsilis decision states that pending VAT refund applications for expenses incurred in Greece by companies established in another Member State, and all new applications, will be automatically assessed using risk analysis criteria .

The automated application evaluation process will be carried out through the «VAT Refunds to Non-Residents» Information System automatically on the first working day of each month and will include pending applications received up to that day. Exceptionally, in the event of a technical failure of the system, the process described in the previous paragraph will be initiated after the technical failure of the system has been rectified and will include pending applications received up to that day.

For applications included in the category marked «Applications with automatic approval,» an electronic list is created with the reference number of each application and the amounts approved for refund, and then a summary refund decision is issued.

For VAT refund applications included in the category marked «Applications for partial examination,» a partial examination of all the documents relating to the application is carried out, and refund decisions are then issued.

For applications included in the category marked «Applications for full review,» a full review of the documents related to the application is conducted.

For applications included in the category marked «Applications with automatic approval,» a sample of 2% of the applications paid during the previous calendar year will be extracted and a full review of these will be conducted.

For applications included in the category marked «Applications for partial examination,» a sample of 5% of the applications paid during the previous calendar year will be extracted and a full examination of these will be carried out.

Finally, the Pitsilis decision states that, upon recommendation by the competent authority, the risk analysis criteria applied in the above procedure will be reassessed and amended.