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The European Commission has decided to postpone the deadline for the submission of VAT refund requests related to 2009 in view of the late implementation by member states of the new VAT refund procedure, which came into force on 1 January 2010.
The commission also suggested harmonising some features of the national VAT refund web portals in order to make them more interoperable and accessible for taxpayers.
The VAT Refund Directive allows for the refund of VAT on business expenses incurred by taxable persons in a member state in which they are not established. It introduced an electronic system by which the taxpayer submits the application for a refund via a web portal developed by the member state in which it is established.
These portals were meant to be available by 1 January 2010. However, some member states were late in launching their portals, while others have had operational problems with them.
This has led to some taxpayers not being able to submit their applications. Thus the commission has postponed the deadline for 2009 expenses from September 2010 to March 2011.
