Legal basis
Value Added Tax Act (VATA) – Art. 81, para. 1, i. 3;
Ordinance № N-12 of 24 August 2006 on the refund of value added tax to non-taxable natural persons not established in the territory of the European Union The Ordinance lays down the procedure and documents for refund of the accrued and paid value added tax to foreign natural persons on goods purchased and exported by them in their personal luggage for personal consumption in an unaltered state from the territory of the country.
Conditions for the exercise of the right to refund and necessary documents
If you are a non-taxable natural person who has a permanent residence outside the European Union (foreign natural persons), you have the right to be refunded value added tax for purchased goods on the territory of Bulgaria. The following conditions shall be met:
- To export goods outside the territory of the European Union, in unchanged form, not later than the last day of the third month following the month during which the invoice for the delivery received was issued. Goods in unchanged form shall be motor vehicles, as well as any other goods which had not been used for the purpose intended until export, except for testing it.
- Goods shall not be alcoholic beverages, tobacco and tobacco products or liquid fuels.
- The supplier of the goods shall be a person who, at the date of issuance of the invoice, has the right to sell goods with the right to refund value added tax.
- The amount of the VAT in one invoice is equal or exceeds BGN 50 or its equivalence in EUR.
- The foreign natural person exercises this right not later than 6 months from the date of the invoice of the received supply.
Refund and necessary documents
Value added tax is refunded through a person called “agent” who acts on your behalf and at your expense. For the refund service you pay commission to the agent that you negotiate with him.
It is necessary to provide the agent with the following documents certified by the customs authorities:
- first and second copy of a request for refund of VAT according to a form, signed personally by the foreign natural person. The request shall be filled in 3 copies in the Bulgarian language, where the name, surname, passport number and address shall be filled in also in the Latin alphabet. For each invoice, on which refund of VAT is requested, a separate request shall be filled in, in which only the goods of the relevant invoice shall be described, which are exported from the territory of the country
- original of an invoice or another similar document for the received goods, which will be exported out of the EU territory and for which refund of the VAT is requested
Upon request of the foreign natural person, the customs authorities shall certify all copies of the documents.
By submitting the above documents to the agent, the latter is deemed to have been authorized by you to exercise your right to VAT refund.
Payment
After receiving the certified documents and verifying that all the conditions for entitlement to a refund of the tax are met, the agent pays you the tax to be refunded in Bulgarian leva. Payment shall be made at the time you submit the documents or within any other agreed period, but not later than the end of the month following the month in which the period of six months from the date of issue of the invoice expires.
If the agent refuses to pay the value added tax, he/she should immediately return the documents received and inform you of the reasons why they refuse to pay the tax.
After the VAT has been paid, the agent shall keep the invoice original and the 1st and 2nd copy of the request, on which he/she has paid the VAT and shall make them invalid for a repeated use by stamping the text: "VAT – paid", followed by the name of the agent.
The agent is obliged to keep in his/her accountancy the 2nd copy of the certified request for refund of paid VAT by a foreign natural person.
Lists of agents for VAT refund
Of registered agents in accordance with Article 9 (1) of Ordinance No N-12/24.08.2006 issued by the Ministry of Finance for the refund of value added tax accrued and paid to foreign natural persons on goods purchased and exported by them in their personal luggage for personal consumption in an unaltered state from the territory of the country.