Refund of foreign VAT credits - applications for 2024 to be filed by Tuesday, 30 September 2025
Bolzano, 05.09.2025
By 30 September 2025, businesses and self-employed professionals may once again file applications for the refund of value added tax incurred in 2024 in other EU countries. The relevant provisions have not changed compared with previous years. Nevertheless, we provide a brief summary below, as this refund opportunity is frequently overlooked:
Filing refund applications in Italy
For businesses and self-employed professionals within the EU, the rule is that the input VAT refund application for supplies of goods and services acquired in other EU Member States must in each case be filed with their own tax authorities. For Italian businesses this means, pursuant to Art. 38-bis2 of the VAT Act: all applications for VAT refunds for the year 2024 from other EU countries are to be submitted solely to the Italian tax authorities, namely to the office in Pescara (Centro operativo di Pescara).
Submission by electronic transmission
All applications must be transmitted via an electronic portal using „Entratel“ or „Fisconline“, or through professionals authorised to file tax returns electronically. The relevant service is available on the website of the Italian Revenue Agency under the section „Unternehmen“ (Businesses) under „Rimborsi Iva Ue soggetti residenti“. In order to use the service directly, however, a separate registration is required beforehand.
Deadline
The final deadline for the refund application for the year 2024 is 30 September 2025.
Refund period
In principle, the refund application may be submitted on an annual basis; most countries, however, also allow shorter refund periods (as a rule, quarters). It is generally advisable to make use of these shorter periods, especially since errors in applications already filed may only be corrected within the aforementioned deadline of 30 September. Accordingly, where an application has been filed incorrectly, corrected submissions may still be presented by 30 September in each case; after that deadline, a correction is only permitted subject to restrictions.
Processing and refund
The processing office in Italy is the tax service centre in Pescara. The applications submitted by electronic transmission are collected there and then forwarded to the competent offices of the other EU countries. The payment of the credits themselves, however, is not made by the Italian tax authorities but by the respective foreign tax administration.
Finally, it should be noted that by 30 September 2025 businesses and self-employed professionals from other EU countries, or from countries with which Italy has a relevant bilateral agreement (Israel, Norway and Switzerland), may likewise apply for the refund of input VAT borne in Italy in the previous year. Conversely, Italian businesses and self-employed professionals may apply in Israel, Norway and Switzerland for the VAT refund for 2024 within the same deadline, in accordance with the respective local provisions.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries.
Yours faithfully,
Dott. Comm. Josef Vieider
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