Abandoning paper settlement documents submitted to foreigners with the VAT refund declaration is proposed
The Government has approved a draft resolution prepared by the Ministry of Finance on simplified procedures for the refund of value added tax (VAT) to foreigners who do not have their permanent residence in the territory of the European Union (EU). This draft resolution proposes to reduce the administrative burden for foreign passengers, traders and intermediaries by abolishing the provision and storage of paper settlement documents.
“The main objective of the prepared draft resolution is to reduce the administrative burden. By waiving the obligation for foreign passengers to provide settlement documents and for traders or other persons engaged in mediation in the refund of value added tax to foreign passengers to keep the original of their settlement documents, we will reduce the administrative burden and at the same time ensure the efficiency of VAT refund processes,” Vice-Minister of Finance Darius Sadeckas states.
Currently, an electronic data processing system is used to refund VAT to foreign travellers. According to the established rules, a printout of the VAT refund declaration for a foreign traveller, accompanied by annexes, is only mandatory in cases where confirmation of the exit of the goods from the territory of the EU is not possible in the electronic system. In such a case, the foreign passenger must submit a declaration to the trader or intermediary together with the settlement documents and the latter is obliged to keep them, even though the information contained in the settlement documents is contained in the declaration itself.
Against this background, the draft resolution proposes to waive the obligation for foreign passengers, traders and intermediaries to provide and store, as appropriate, original paper settlement documents for purchased goods in relation to physically certified declarations, while at the same time introducing an obligation for traders and intermediaries to keep a digital copy of the declaration instead of the original for 10 years.