Keep your intermediary informed about your suppliers

Change of supplier? Do not forget your intermediary

We understand that from time to time you change supplier for your fuel and toll. You may choose a party with better coverage in certain countries, want to gain experience with a new provider or even consider a full switch. It also happens regularly that companies add an extra supplier in order to be more flexible or optimize costs.

These are logical and often strategic choices. What is often forgotten, however, is to communicate these changes in time to the party that handles your foreign VAT and excise refunds.

Why your intermediary must know this

Do you outsource the recovery of your foreign VAT and excise to an intermediary? Then always keep them actively informed about changes in your supplier base.

After all, your intermediary cannot know what they do not know.

Without notification of a new fuel or toll supplier, there is a risk that invoices will not be included in the filing. That can directly lead to missed refunds.

Foreign VAT: one chance per filing period

The recovery of foreign VAT takes place on a quarterly basis, with an additional annual or supplementary filing. What is important to know is that each filing slot can only be used once.

It is not possible to add extra invoices later by way of a correction to a VAT return that has already been submitted.

A small administrative omission can therefore have major financial consequences.

Belgian excise refund: more flexibility

For excise refunds in Belgium, the rules are more favorable. Here it is possible to submit claims up to three years after the fact. In addition, a corrective filing can be submitted in which invoices from new supplier(s) are still included.

This offers more room to process missed invoices after all. Even so, it remains advisable to report changes immediately. The earlier everything is set up correctly, the smoother and faster the refund process will be, and this also helps avoid possible extra costs charged by your intermediary.

Manually sending invoices? That is no longer necessary

Do you still send your invoices manually to your intermediary? Then it is good to know that this is no longer necessary today.

At Delta, we ensure that invoices are downloaded directly through supplier portals or processed automatically when they are sent periodically by email.

This means:

• you no longer have to worry about it
• invoices are processed on time
• you minimize the risk of missed refunds