All companies registered in Poland that incur costs of doing business in France may apply for a refund of the tax that was charged on the products or services purchased. If you do not know how to deal with this task, we invite you to cooperate with us. We have been dealing with VAT refunds (French: TVA – Taxe sur la Valeur Ajoutee) from France for many years. In this country, there is a single standard rate. This rate is 20 per cent and covers, among other things, the cost of road tolls and fuel. There are also reduced rates of 10%, 5.5% and 2.1%.
Who can apply for a tax refund from France?
All companies that are agents of VAT in Poland are entitled to apply for the recovery of TVA tax, provided that they have incurred business expenses in France during the period indicated. However, it is important to bear in mind that not everyone can make such a claim. Companies that are registered as taxpayers in the aforementioned country or have their registered office there do not have the possibility to apply for VAT recovery.
When can you claim a VAT refund from France?
An application for the recovery of VAT from France is usually submitted on a quarterly basis, although it is possible to combine them. Accordingly, entrepreneurs can apply for TVA recovery for:
- Q1,
- Q2,
- Q3,
- Q4,
- H1,
- H2,
- Q1-Q3 period,
- Q2-Q3 period,
- Q2-Q4 period,
- all year.
If the application is for a whole year, then the lowest amount is €50. For shorter periods, an amount of at least €400 must be requested. It is equally important to respect the deadlines. On 30 September, the deadline for claiming VAT refunds from France for the previous year expires.
Tax refund from France – what documents are required?
You will need to provide other documents with your claim for VAT refund from France. These can be receipts or invoices, the latter of which do not have to be presented with all the details of the purchaser of the goods or services.
Filing a tax refund application from France
The application for a VAT refund (TVA) from France is submitted to the tax office with jurisdiction over your business. Staff at the office have 15 days to verify it and then forward it to France. From the date of receipt of the application, the French tax office staff have 4 months to issue a decision. This time can be extended if it is necessary to check the documentation. In this case, the entrepreneur has an additional two months to provide the missing documents.
