Information on vat refund. What is VAT? VAT (Value Added Tax) can be compared to a sales tax, it levied on the expenditure of consumer goods and services and business transactions, which is paid by the consumer at the point of purchase and collected by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). First introduced to the UK in 1973, it is now a major source of revenue for the government.

In the UK there are four different categories for VAT: standard rate (17.5%) for goods and services considered to be ‘luxury’ items, reduced rate (5%) for goods and services considered to be socially or economically important, zero rate for essential goods and services and exempt rate for necessities. Some examples of zero-rated or exempt goods and services are: children’s clothes, food, public transport, newspapers, medicines, books, insurance, postal services and funerals.

For individual consumers, it’s a straightforward tax, paid at the point of purchase. For businesses, though, it’s a pretty complex system. However, put in simple terms, companies pay VAT on their purchases (known as input tax) and charge VAT on their sales (known as output tax).

Global Tax Reclaim have worldwide expertise reclaiming VAT from VAT authorities throughout Europe. By making one call to us today we could save your company thousands in unnecessary VAT on a yearly basis. We can look after the full procedure from organising and copying invoices to filing all the paper work. Since it is our daily business you will have an expert on your side who communicates with all the VAT authorities throughout Europe almost every day.

We reclaim Vat (VAT rebate), when the VAT is paid for services or travel expenses by Companies or Institutions outside their own country. If employees are attending business meeting or trade shows, for example, they will incur VAT, you are entitled to a refund of this VAT, we will reclaim this VAT on your behalf.