Dutch VAT refund for foreign businesses

Who can use the refund procedure

Your company is not established in the Netherlands and has no fixed establishment here. In the refund period it made no supplies in the Netherlands, apart from supplies on which the VAT is reverse-charged to the customer and certain transport services. If you do make taxable supplies here, you register and deduct the VAT in your Dutch return instead.

EU companies: through your own portal

• The request is filed electronically through the portal of the tax authority in your own EU country, not directly with the Dutch tax authorities, in Dutch, English or German
• Deadline: 30 September of the year after the refund period
• Refund period: at least three months and at most one calendar year. Minimum amount: € 400 for a period shorter than a year, € 50 for a full year
• The Dutch tax authorities decide within four months, or within eight months if they ask for more information, and pay within ten working days after that

Since 1 April 2026 the request must include an electronic copy of every invoice or import document with a taxable amount of € 1,000 or more, or € 250 or more for fuel. The request must contain all required details, including a code for each type of expense; an incomplete request does not count as filed. The decision is open to objection, and if the Dutch tax authorities pay late, you receive interest.

Companies outside the EU: with the Dutch tax authorities

• The request is made on the Dutch tax authorities' form for refunds to businesses established outside the EU, and filed with the Dutch tax authorities in Heerlen
• Deadline: within six months after the end of the calendar year, so by 30 June
• The same minimum amounts: € 400 for a period shorter than a year, € 50 for a full year
• Enclose copies of the invoices or import documents, not the originals, because they are not returned, and a certificate from your own tax authority showing that your company is registered there as a business. A certificate is accepted for a year
• The Dutch tax authorities decide in principle within eight weeks, and can extend that term

The Dutch tax authorities only handle your request once your company is registered with them as a foreign business. That registration number is applied for with the Registration form Foreign companies; we do this for you and it is included in our refund fee. On their website the Dutch tax authorities now ask for copies of the invoices instead of originals, because they do not return the documents. In 2026 the request moves online to Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk, with eHerkenning (the Dutch business login) or DigiD (the Dutch government login); the Dutch tax authorities publish the start date on their website.

What you can and cannot reclaim

• Yes: Dutch VAT on hotel rooms, car hire, fuel, and goods and services bought here, and import VAT on goods you imported in your own name, as far as you would be entitled to deduct it
• No: VAT on food and drinks consumed in restaurants, bars and hotels (Article 15(5) of the Dutch VAT Act). The hotel room itself and room hire are refundable
• No: VAT that was charged although none was due, and VAT on invoices that do not meet the Dutch invoice requirements

Example

A company from the United States exhibits at a trade fair in Amsterdam. In 2026 it pays Dutch VAT on:

• Hotel rooms of € 3,000: € 630 VAT at 21%, refundable
• Car hire of € 800: € 168 VAT, refundable
• Restaurant meals of € 400: € 36 VAT at 9%, not refundable
• Refund request for 2026, filed by 30 June 2027: € 798

This is a worked example, not a client case. Whether every cost qualifies depends on your invoices.

Refund procedure or Dutch VAT return: which route?

• You file Dutch VAT returns, for example because you sell from stock in the Netherlands: you deduct the Dutch VAT on your costs in your return. See Dutch VAT returns for non-resident businesses
• You make no supplies in the Netherlands, or only supplies on which your Dutch business customer accounts for the VAT: you use the refund procedure on this page

If your company should be registered for Dutch VAT, the refund procedure is not the right route. See VAT registration for foreign companies, or check it with Do I need a Dutch VAT number?.

What an EU refund request contains

The request covers a calendar year, or a part of a year of at least three months. For each invoice or import document it states:

• The name, address and Dutch VAT number of the supplier
• The date and number of the invoice
• The taxable amount and the VAT in euros, and the part you may deduct
• A code for the type of expense: fuel, hire of means of transport, other vehicle costs, road tolls, travel costs such as taxis and public transport, accommodation, food and drinks, admission to fairs and exhibitions, luxuries and entertainment, or other

The request also describes your business activity with an EU activity code (NACE), and states that you made no supplies in the Netherlands other than reverse-charged supplies and certain transport services. Invoices from earlier in the same calendar year that you have not yet claimed can be included.

Partly exempt in your own country

If your company is established in another EU country, the refund follows its right to deduct both at home and in the Netherlands. If your company makes only exempt supplies without a right to deduct in its own country, it cannot reclaim Dutch VAT. If it makes both, it applies the same pro rata percentage as at home, and the refund is never higher than what Dutch rules allow to be deducted. If your pro rata changes afterwards, you correct the refund in a following request or in a separate statement.

Late or refused requests

• EU companies: the 30 September deadline is strict. The Court of Justice has ruled that a late request gives no right to a refund. The Dutch State Secretary for Finance has promised that a late request is still considered ex officio, but only if your own country forwards it
• Companies outside the EU: a late request is still considered ex officio, up to five years after the year in which the VAT was charged. If it is then refused, you cannot object or appeal
• You can object within six weeks to the refusal of a request filed on time. If the Dutch tax authorities ask for more information on an EU request, you have one month to provide it

Example: copies and minimum amounts

A company established in Belgium has these Dutch costs in the first half of 2026:

• Fuel for € 300 plus € 63 VAT. A copy of the invoice is required, because for fuel the limit is € 250
• Car hire for € 600 plus € 126 VAT. No copy required
• A hotel stay for € 1,500 plus € 315 VAT at 21%. A copy is required
• Total: € 504 VAT

A request for January to June 2026 is possible, because the amount is above the € 400 minimum for a period shorter than a year. Waiting and claiming the whole of 2026 at once is also possible, with a minimum of € 50, by 30 September 2027. This is a worked example with rounded amounts, not a client case.

Based in the Netherlands and reclaiming VAT from another EU country?

That is the reverse route. A business established in the Netherlands reclaims VAT paid in another EU country through the portal of the Dutch tax authorities, with a separate request per country, before 1 October of the year after the purchase. The Dutch tax authorities check the request and forward it; the other country decides within four months, or within eight months if it asks for more information. We do this for € 195 per country per year. See reclaiming VAT paid in other EU countries.

What we do

We collect your invoices, check each one against the conditions and prepare the request. For a company outside the EU we first register it as a foreign business, which the Dutch tax authorities require before they handle the request, and then file the request; that registration is included. For an EU company we prepare the complete request for your own country's portal, and file it for you where that portal allows a representative. € 395 per year, excl. VAT. Do you also make supplies in the Netherlands that are not reverse-charged? Then you need a Dutch VAT number instead, and we arrange that.