Recover VAT: refund of VAT paid in another EU country (360-361) and special cases (308)

When a business owner or professional established in Spain pays VAT in another Member State (diesel in France, a hotel in Germany, a stand at an Italian trade fair), that amount cannot be deducted on the Spanish form 303. The correct route is the harmonised refund request under Directiva 2008/9/CE, which in Spain is submitted using form 360 at the electronic headquarters of the AEAT (the Spanish Tax Agency), always electronically and with a separate request for each country you are claiming from.

The AEAT does not decide on the refund: it checks the requirements and forwards the request within 15 days to the Member State where you paid the tax, which is the one that processes and resolves it according to the Directive. The AEAT will not process the request if you did not act as a business owner or professional during the period, if you only carried out operations that do not give the right to deduction or if you pay taxes exclusively under the agriculture, livestock and fishing regime or the equivalence surcharge. You must also be registered for the electronic notification service.

Form 360 is also used by business owners established in the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla to recover the VAT they paid in the Peninsula or the Balearic Islands, because for the purposes of this tax they are not established in the VAT application territory either.

The deadline starts the day after the end of the period you are claiming and ends on 30 September of the year following the one in which you paid the amounts. It is a strict deadline: the 2025 amounts can be claimed until 30 September 2026 and, after that date, the Member State will reject the request.

The request can cover a period of no more than a calendar year and no less than 3 months (or less than 3 months if it is the remainder of the year). There are minimum amounts: €400 if the period is less than a calendar year, and €50 if the request is annual or for the rest of the year. If a quarter does not reach €400, nothing is lost: those amounts are accumulated to a longer period or to the annual request.

In the request, each invoice is classified with the European expense codes and, if the refunding country requires it, you must attach an electronic copy of the invoices whose base is equal to or greater than €1,000 (€250 when they are for fuel). The refunding State must resolve the request within 4 months; if it asks for additional information, the deadline can be extended up to 8 months, and once approved it must pay within the following 10 working days, with late payment interest if it is delayed.

Form 361 is the reverse path: it is used by business owners or professionals established in third countries (outside the EU) to recover the Spanish VAT they paid without being established here. It generally requires reciprocal treatment with your country, although the law does not require it for certain expenses such as moulds, templates and equipment intended to manufacture goods that are exported, or access, hospitality, catering and transport linked to fairs, congresses and exhibitions (artículo 119 bis of the Ley del IVA, the Spanish VAT Act).

The applicant must appoint a representative resident in Spain with a power of attorney granted before a notario (a Spanish notary public), who is the one that submits form 361 electronically; the power of attorney is provided with the first request and all of them must be accompanied by a certification from your country proving that you are a business owner subject to a tax similar to VAT. The same calendar applies (until 30 September of the following year) and the same minimums of €400 and €50.

Be careful with the United Kingdom since Brexit: it was left out of the electronic system of Directiva 2008/9/CE. A British business owner recovers Spanish VAT via form 361 (reciprocity has been recognised since January 2021, with limitations), and a Spanish business owner who pays British VAT no longer uses form 360, but must claim directly to the UK tax administration. Northern Ireland maintains the electronic system, but only for purchases of goods.

Form 308 is a non-periodic refund request: it is only submitted when one of the 4 specific cases listed in its official instructions occurs. They are: the person who, on an occasional basis, delivers a new means of transport to another EU country (an exempt delivery that allows you to recover part of the VAT paid when buying it); the merchant under the equivalence surcharge who refunded VAT to non-EU travellers and requests its reimbursement; the road passenger or goods transport operator under the simplified regime who recovers the VAT on the purchase of an assigned vehicle (artículo 30 bis of the Reglamento del IVA); and public bodies or private social establishments that deliver goods to recognised organisations that export them for humanitarian, charitable or educational purposes.

In deliveries of new means of transport there are 2 important limits: one form 308 is submitted for each vehicle, without being able to group several, and the amount to be refunded is the lower of the amount you paid when buying it and the one that would result from applying VAT to its delivery price.

Each case has its own deadline (see the table), and all are submitted electronically with a digital certificate or Cl@ve (the Spanish electronic identity system). The refund is paid into the account you indicate, including an account opened abroad in the EU/SEPA zone.

Letting 30 September pass is the most expensive mistake: there is no extension and the VAT for an entire financial year is lost. The second is submitting a quarter that does not reach €400 instead of accumulating it to a longer period or to the annual request of at least €50.

Also common are: forgetting that the AEAT is just the mailbox, so requests for information come from the refunding country (often in their language and with a 1 month deadline to reply); not being registered for electronic notifications and missing those requests; claiming amounts that the destination country considers non-deductible (each State limits expenses such as leisure, representation or vehicles); and trying to recover UK VAT via form 360, which goes through another route since Brexit.

With form 308, the typical mistake is confusing the cases: if you are under the equivalence surcharge and buy from a foreign supplier (an intra-community acquisition or a reverse charge operation in which you are the acquirer), the correct form is 309 (for payment), not 308. Form 308 under the equivalence surcharge is only used to reimburse the amounts refunded to travellers.

Managora reviews your invoices 1 by 1 (supplier details, base, amount and deductibility in the destination country), calculates whether the quarterly or annual request suits you best to meet the minimums, prepares the corresponding form 360, 361 or 308 and submits it electronically. If the refunding State sends a request for information, we reply to it on time for you.

The process is completely online: you provide the invoices and the IBAN, and we take care of the rest until the amount reaches your account. You can see the updated price of the service on the Form 360 / 361 procedure page or on the Form 308 page and start today: every 30 September an entire financial year of recoverable VAT expires.