Legal Basis for Refund of Foreign VAT
The European idea of foreign VAT refunds is based on a simple thesis that reads: A legal entity that does not operate does not carry out a taxable turnover in country X of the European Union - it does not even need to fill the budget of that country.
The legal basis for the refund of foreign VAT within the EU member states is Directive 8. It has been in force since 1982
Subsequently, in 1997, the EU adopted Directive 13, which promotes the right to a VAT refund from EU Member States to legal entities registered outside the EU. This directive has been implemented since 1998.
Therefore, Directive 13 is the legal basis for VAT refunds to Serbian legal entities from EU countries.
Both Directives are an integral part of national VAT legislation. EU member states are left to choose whether to apply Directive 13 unconditionally or to limit its application to the condition of "bilateral reciprocity". Većina država EU direktivu 13 primenjuje bezuslovno.
Using the right of inconsistent application of Directive 13, some countries, such as Spain, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, apply Directive 13 with the mandatory application of reciprocity.