Is it possible to refund VAT for transactions that were 20 years old?

On 20 and 24 July 2022, two Irish companies filed a VAT refund in the amounts of €172 and €765,36 respectively. The practice of appealing decisions on VAT assessment and refunding overpaid tax amounts is quite widespread. The reason for the interest in these statements specifically lies in the fact that the tax was paid more than 161 years ago, in 606,81 and 20 respectively.

Decisions on the applications were made relatively recently; the litigation lasted more than a year. The tax inspector immediately refused to refund the VAT due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for such requests: not only has it expired standard six week appeal period, but also a five-year period for filing an appeal against the decision of the tax authorities.  

The companies decided to go to court. The plaintiffs' lawyers said that the reasons for filing objections were discovered after the expiration of the claim deadlines, so the deadline for considering the case should be postponed, the companies' objections should be accepted, and the demands should be satisfied.

Finally, the District Court of the Northern Netherlands issued a decision. The companies' claims were rejected due to the fact that all statutes of limitations had been significantly exceeded. The decision noted that such a claim could be accepted if the companies were in default, but this is not the case. The reason for filing a claim after the expiration of the statute of limitations due to newly discovered circumstances is unsatisfactory.

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