A foreign business

If a business established in the EU intends to apply for input
VAT refund procedure in Germany, the business must transmit
the refund application to the German Federal Central Tax Offce
(Bundeszentralamt für Steuern) via an electronic portal set up
by the Member State in which the applicant is established. The
refund has to be applied for within 9 months from the end of the
calendar year in which the claim arose. Copies of invoices and
import documents are to be submitted electronically with the
refund application, where the consideration for the transaction
amounts to at least € 1,000 (€ 250 or more where the transac-
tion concerns fuel).

In cases of well-founded doubts the German
Federal Central Tax Offce may request invoices and/or import
documents in the original. The refund applied for must be at
least € 50. However, to the extent that input VAT is claimed for
part of the calendar year only, the minimum amount is € 400,
unless the refund period is the last period of the calendar year.