Correct VAT number listing

Correct listing of your VAT number

It is essential that your company's VAT number is stated correctly on your suppliers' invoices. In practice, however, it often happens that the number is shown incorrectly or incompletely on invoices, for example: a typing error, a wrong digit, or the number being completely missing. Such errors can have major consequences for your foreign VAT and excise refunds.

Strict checks by foreign tax authorities

Foreign tax authorities strictly verify whether the VAT number exactly matches that of the applicant. In the event of discrepancies, an information request usually follows, with a response period generally ranging from 15 to 30 days. Within this period, corrected invoices must be requested from the supplier and resubmitted. If this is not done in time, the VAT and/or excise refund may be wholly or partially rejected.

Long-term consequences of incorrect VAT numbers

In practice, one incorrectly registered VAT number at a supplier often remains on invoices for months or even years, causing potential losses to increase quickly. The absence of problems in recent refunds does not automatically mean that all your VAT numbers are correct. Errors may remain unnoticed until an auditor identifies them.

No leniency from the tax authorities

Leniency from the tax authorities or customs should not be expected: when such an issue is identified, they reject it in full, 100%, possibly with penalties imposed for previous periods that were refunded incorrectly.

Check your suppliers today

To minimize risks, carry out a one-time check of all your existing suppliers today for correct VAT number notation. With new suppliers, always ensure that the VAT number is stated correctly from the very first invoice in order to prevent future problems.