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1. Restriction of input VAT refund for the purchase of fuel by taxable persons established outside the EU

As of 15 January 2021, input VAT for the purchase of fuel by taxable persons established outside the EU cannot be refunded in Austria under the VAT refund procedure according to the 13^th VAT Directive anymore (see Regulation BGBl II Nr 16/2021 published by the Austrian Minister of Finance on 14 January 2021). This new regulation by the Austrian Minister of Finance has the following impact:

• Taxable persons established in the EU are still entitled to apply for input VAT refund for the purchase of fuel in Austria under the general conditions (i.e., no input VAT refund for passenger cars but only for other vehicles like for example trucks or vans).
• Taxable persons established outside the EU are not entitled to apply for input VAT refund for the purchase of fuel at all. 

Please note that the new regulation solely concerns the input VAT refund procedure according to the 13^th VAT Directive. Thus, in case a taxable person established outside the EU is VAT registered in Austria (what is basically only possible if the taxable person carries out taxable transactions in Austria other than output supplies with reverse-charge), an input VAT deduction for the purchase of fuel might be claimed via the periodical Austrian VAT returns under the general conditions (i.e., if the respective vehicle does not qualify as passenger car). The latter is of course also possible for taxable persons established in the EU and VAT registered in Austria.

2. Notification of decisions by Austrian tax authorities

For EU-VAT refunds under the Directive 2008/9 a new provision regards notification of decision by tax authorities is implemented. Accordingly, the refund decision by the Austrian tax authorities is deemed to be received by the applicant at the moment it is sent by the Austrian tax authorities to the electronic portal of the Member State where the applicant is established.

The above information was kindly provided by LeitnerLeitner GmbH (Austria); contact: Pichler Peter at: Peter.Pichler@leitnerleitner.com.