Turnover tax (value-added tax)

Turnover tax is an indirect tax which is levied via businesses and must be paid by them to the fiscal authorities. Relief from the turnover tax contained in the price of goods or services is granted under the “Regulation on the Reimbursement of Turnover Tax to Permanent Foreign Diplomatic Missions and Career Consular Posts and to their Foreign Members” (Umsatzsteuererstattungsverordnung) in the form of reimbursements obtained via the Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (BZSt)).

The Federal Foreign Office advises missions to refer to the detailed information on the reimbursement of turnover tax contained in its Circular Notes

• No. 14/2018 of 16 April 2018 and Annex (turnover tax)
• No. 39/2020 of 19 November 2020 (turnover tax)
• No. 01/2022 Allg. (vehicles) of 18 January 2022 and Annex
• No. 3/2024 of 24 January 2024 (VAT refund, turnover tax)

The turnover tax paid as part of the price of goods and services is reimbursed on the basis of the agreed reciprocity and as part of courtoisie internationale.

Reimbursement procedure

Application forms can be obtained from the Federal Central Tax Office by post or online

www.bzst.bund.de bzw. www.formulare-bfinv.de:

The most important conditions for reimbursement are listed on the application forms.

Applications must be made using the official forms. Applications by missions or posts must be signed by the head of mission/post or their deputy or by a separately authorized person. Applications by members of the diplomatic missions and career consular posts must be signed personally and then countersigned by the head of mission/post or their deputy or a separately authorized person. Confirmations on your own behalf are not permitted. A list of all invoices (in duplicate) must be enclosed with the applications.

The applications must be accompanied by the original invoices, till receipts where available and proof of payment (receipts, if appropriate a separate written receipt from the business, copies of bank orders or bank statements) and a copy of the current protocol ID (Protokollausweis) of the entitled member.

Applications for reimbursement, with enclosures, must be submitted directly to the Federal Central Tax Office, no longer through the Foreign Office. Documents will be returned by the Federal Central Tax Office with the refund notification.

Full details of the bank account into which the refund should be transferred must be included in each application. If the applicant and the account holder are not one and the same, the name of the account holder into whose account the money is to be paid must also be given.

Applications for reimbursement from career consular posts and their entitled members need not be sent via their diplomatic mission, but can also be submitted directly to the Federal Central Tax Office.

​​​​​​​Reimbursement to family members

Foreign family members from the same household as the member of the missions and posts are not themselves entitled to claim back turnover tax. However, invoices containing their name as recipient of the goods or services will be taken into account, provided the application for reimbursement is submitted by the entitled member of the mission/post. Only the member of the mission and posts can submit a refund request.

Deadlines for applications

Applications for reimbursement must be made by the end of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the turnover tax was imposed on the applicant (e.g. invoices from 2023 can only be submitted until 31 December 2024). Whether the invoice has already been paid in full is immaterial for meeting the deadline. If the invoice has not yet been paid in full, reimbursement will simply be delayed. This deadline cannot be extended. Claims are considered to have been submitted on the day they are received and stamped by the Federal Central Tax Office.

Applications initially rejected by the Federal Central Tax Office may be resubmitted directly to that Office providing any additional documentation that had originally been missing. The deadline for resubmitting applications is one year after the receipt of the original refund notification. Applications received after this deadline will only be processed if sufficient cause is given.

Reference number

The Federal Central Tax Office will allocate each new applicant (the diplomatic mission, the career consular post or the member of the mission/post) a reference number. This number is printed at the top right-hand corner of the refund notifications. It should be quoted in all correspondence with the Federal Central Tax Office.