No time bar (prescription) for the VAT credit

When a VAT-payer does not claim the reimbursement of the VAT that is due to him, it is registered on his current account with the VAT administration until he claims the reimbursement of the VAT.

The position of the Belgian tax authorities was that the statute of limitations ("prescription/verjaring") was five years from the date of the VAT return that showed an amount of VAT due to the VAT-payer (article 83 §1 VAT code).

The case concerned a claim by a VAT-payer for the reimbursement of a VAT credit of € 7,288.50 on her current account after she ended a side activity as a farmer between 2005 and 2015. The VAT authorities refused the reimbursement stating that the claim was time barred because it was filed more than five years after the date of the VAT return that showed an amount of VAT due to the VAT-payer.

The VAT payer argued that the statute of limitations was three years from the date of the decision refusing the reimbursement of the VAT (article 14 RD nr 4 29 December 1969). The Liège Court of Appeal confirmed this on 28 June 2019 (2018/RG/149).

The Supreme Court confirmed that the statute of limitations is not to be established on the date of the VAT return that shows the VAT due to the VAT-payer, so that the reimbursement is not time barred when the VAT payer claims the reimbursement of the VAT.

Decision of 17 June 2022 (F.20.0038.F).