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VAT refunds

Due to e recent ruling by the Swedish Tax Authority “Skatteverket” we have to charge VAT regardless of your country of origin, since “the value is consumed in Sweden”.
VAT-registered within the EU VAT area should apply for a VAT refund by their own country’s tax authority.
Businesses outside EU can apply for a VAT refund from Skatteverket in Sweden.
See the text below retrieved from Skatteverkets website

 

(Text below retrieved April 11 2012 from http://www.skatteverket.se/otherlanguages/inenglish/employersbusinessescorporations/vatrefundstoforeignentrepreneurs.4.34a801ea1041d54f9e28000273.html)

VAT Refunds to Foreign Entrepreneurs not established within the EU VAT area

 

Who can get a refund?

You can get a refund of VAT on goods and services that you buy in Sweden if you are a foreign entrepreneur not required to be registered for VAT in Sweden.

What are the rules for refunds?

The following conditions must be fulfilled for the VAT to be refunded to you:

  • The VAT must be on the purchase (acquisition) or import of goods or services for your business in other countries than Sweden.
  • Your sale (turnover) would have been subject to VAT, or would have entailed the right to a refund if it had taken place in Sweden.
  • If your sale (turnover) takes place in another EU country then it is subject to VAT or entitles you to a refund in that country.
  • As a foreign entrepreneur, you can also get a VAT refund for goods or services that you sell (turn over) in Sweden when a VAT-registered buyer is tax-liable for the turnover (known as "reversed charge").

 

Limitations

You are not entitled to repayment if the Swedish VAT regulations prohibit deduction. In Sweden, there are limitations on the right to deductions for, among other things, cars and business entertainment. If you run a travel agency business, you are not entitled to a refund for goods and services that directly benefit the traveller, such as hotel rooms, restaurants services and personal transport.

If you have not sold the goods or services but have simply acted as an agent, you can only claim a refund if your principal would have been entitled to a refund if he had acted in his own name. If the agency work took place in several stages, each stage must have been entitled to a refund. As the person applying for a refund, you must show that this right existed.

 

When can repayment take place?

You are entitled to repayment no earlier than the point at which

  • Goods have been delivered to you or brought into Sweden.
  • A service has been provided to you.
  • You have paid in advance for ordered goods or services.

 

Application for a refund

You apply for a refund to Malmö on the form SKV 5811 and to Stockholm on SKV 5801.

Entrepreneurs from

  • Albania
  • Bosnia-Herzegovina
  • Croatia
  • The Faeroe Islands
  • Greenland
  • Iceland
  • Macedonia
  • Montenegro
  • Serbia
  • Turkey

shall send the form and its attachments to:

Skatteverket
Utlandsskattekontoret
SE-205 31 Malmö
Sweden.

Fax: + 46 10 574 62 03
E-mail: skattekontor1.malmo@skatteverket.se

Entrepreneurs from other countries outside the EU shall send the form and its attachments to:

Skatteverket
Utlandsskattekontoret
SE-106 61 Stockholm
Sweden.

Fax: + 46 10 574 18 11
E-mail: stockholm@skatteverket.se

 

Call The Swedish Tax Agency

General Information or if you have questions regarding your own case
0771-567 567 (within Sweden)
+46 8 564 851 60 (from abroad)

Your application must be received by the Swedish Tax Agency no later than 30 June of the year following the calendar year which the application relates to.

The application is to cover at least three and no more than twelve consecutive calendar months. An application must never refer to different calendar years. If the application covers a period up to the turn of a year, it may apply to a shorter period than three months.

Your application is to be accompanied by certificate issued by a competent authority that shows that you are an entrepreneur. The certificate must not be older than 12 months.

You must verify the amount applied for with original invoices. Swedish VAT is to be specified in the invoice.

Your application must show the following separately:

  • VAT on fees for passage over the Öresund Link.
  • VAT applying to reversed charge.
  • Other VAT.

 

Minimum amounts

If the application refers to a full calendar year or the remainder of the year until the turn of the year, the amount of VAT for which a refund is applied for may not be less than SEK 500.

In other cases, the amount of VAT may not be less than SEK 4 000.

 

Reconsideration and appeal

A decision on the refund will, on request, be reconsidered by Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency) if the refund application is refused in whole or in part.

The same applies if you request a further refund for a period for which a decision has been issued. The decision of Skatteverket may be appealed against to Länsrätten i Dalarnas län (the County Administrative Court in Dalarna County¹).

¹) From February 15, 2010, "Förvaltningsrätten i Falun".