Are You Due a VAT Refund?

According to Wikipedia,Value added tax (VAT), is tax on exchanges. Consumers who buy personal products and services cannot recover VAT on purchases, but businesses are able to recover VAT on the materials and services that they buy to make further supplies or services directly or indirectly sold to end-users.

A VAT is an indirect tax, in that the tax is collected from someone other than the person who actually bears the cost of the tax (namely the seller rather than the consumer). VAT was invented because very high sales taxes and tariffs encourage cheating and smuggling.

Has your company paid for services or travel expenses outside your country? Have any of your employees attended conferences or trade shows in Europe? You may be entitled to a vat refund for the following expenses if incurred for business purposes:

. Hotel/Accommodation
• Restaurant/meals
• Car hire
• Car fuel
• Professional services
• Exhibitions/Trade fairs
• Advertising /Marketing
• Workshops/conferences/seminars/meetings/training
• Costs of running a representative offices
• Telephone and communications etc…

Did you know that if you use Google Adwords for your business you may also be eligible for a refund? This is due to the main office of Google's billing department moving to Ireland. Google can charge the VAT tax of approximately 21% on their accounts unless you inform them of your VAT registration number.

The items which are eligible can vary and the tricky law of VAT can be confusing for some. To get expert advice, up to date information and have a company which specializes in reclaim and management of VAT,
I suggest visiting www.globaltaxreclaim.com.