The 2012 worldwide VAT, GST and sales tax guide

272 G REECE
Refunds of VAT are also made in other circumstances, such as for
VAT incurred on the purchase of investment goods or for input
VAT that relates to goods and services used for making supplies
that are exempt with credit. In general, the following rules apply:
• A refund claim may refer to either one or more tax periods or a
whole fiscal year.
• In principle, 90% of the VAT amount claimed must be refunded
within the statutory deadline of one month after the submission
date of the refund claim (petition) on the basis of the documents
accompanying the refund claim. However, in practice, the onemonth
refund deadline is not always met.
• The remaining 10% of the VAT amount claimed is refunded
within the fiscal year in which the clearance VAT return is filed.
If the total VAT to be refunded exceeds €6,000, a tax audit is
performed before the 10% is refunded.
• The first time a VAT refund claim is filed, a temporary tax
inspection is performed before the refund of any VAT amount.
Effective from 1 July 2010, for VAT refund applications filed by
Greek taxable persons (including foreign taxable persons registered
for VAT purposes in Greece), VAT in excess of €30,000 is
not refunded unless a final or provisional tax audit control has
been completed. In certain cases, VAT refunds up to the amount
of €30,000 are allowed without a prior tax audit control.
However, taxable persons entitled to a VAT refund may offset this
VAT refund claim against any VAT payable to the Greek state
under certain conditions. The above €30,000 limit on VAT
refunds does not apply to VAT refund applications filed in accordance
with the EU 8th and 13th VAT Directives by foreign (EU
or non-EU [that is, Norwegian or Swiss] taxable persons not
registered for VAT purposes in Greece).
G. Recovery of VAT by nonestablished businesses
Greece refunds VAT incurred by EU businesses that are neither
established in Greece nor registered for VAT there. Refund is
made under the terms of the EU Directives 2006/112/EC and
2008/9/EC. Greece does not yet refund VAT under the terms of
the EU 13th Directive (Directive 86/560/EEC) to businesses
established outside the EU, with the exception of businesses
established in Norway and Switzerland. A Norwegian, Swiss or
EU business may claim Greek VAT refunds to the same extent as
a Greek taxable person.
Refund application. Greece has incorporated into its VAT law the
provisions of EU Directive 2008/9/EC, which provides detailed
rules for the refund of value-added tax, provided for in EU
Directive 2006/112/EC, to taxable persons not established in
Greece but established in another EU member state. These measures
took effect on 1 January 2010 and applied for the first time
to refund claims of foreign businesses with respect to Greek VAT
incurred in 2009. In accordance with EU Directive 2008/9/EC,
VAT refund applications must be submitted electronically.
According to the guidelines issued by the Greek VAT authorities
on the procedure for the 8th VAT Directive rules, the refund
application must be submitted by 30 September of the calendar
year following the refund period. Claims must be submitted electronically
in either Greek or English and must be accompanied by