Cost Saving Potential

Claims concerning the recovery of foreign VAT can be submitted in respect of a wide variety of expenses incurred abroad. Hotel, restaurant, telephone, marketing, legal, transport (including car rental, taxi and petrol), seminar, conference, trade fair and exhibition costs are (among others) all recoverable.

The VAT Recovery Process

The VAT recovery process itself is complex and time consuming. ITR will firstly collect and analyse all original receipts relevant for recovery. Receipts must be made out in the name of the company (i.e. not in the name of individual employees) and clearly state the VAT amount charged. Originals are replaced in the client’s accounting system by a stamped photocopy indicating that the original was retrieved for foreign VAT recovery purposes.

ITR will then “restyle” receipts that do not meet specific standards imposed by foreign jurisdictions. This includes e.g. contacting suppliers directly or asking hotels to issue new receipts in order to comply with countries’ strict formal requirements concerning VAT deductibility and recovery. Restyling applies to all types of documents: employee expenses, supplier and inter-company invoices.
The next procedural step is the submission of an individual VAT recovery claim form in respect of each relevant foreign jurisdictions. Each country has its own set of (sometimes cumbersome) rules but all claim forms have to be submitted by 30 June of the year following the year stated on the receipt it relates to (e.g. a restaurant receipt dated 12 May 2006 will have to be submitted by 30 June 2007).
Once claims have been submitted, ITR will monitor each claim through its extensive network of local contacts and provide the client with progress reports.


The VAT recovery lead time varies considerably according to jurisdiction. ITR’s local contacts ensure that it is kept to a minimum. Refunded amounts are treated with complete transparency and transferred to an account designated by the client within 30 days of receipt.


ITR’s work is strictly success based – we only receive a percentage of reclaimed VAT amounts actually recovered and there are no additional fees. Our success fee percentage varies according to the amount of (i) VAT recovered and (ii) work involved (e.g. number of jurisdictions, amount and type of documents submitted, restyling efforts etc.). We are happy to provide you with more specific information in this regard upon request.