Taxable persons who are not established in Hungary and whose permanent establishment or, in the absence thereof, residence or habitual abode for economic purposes is located, inter alia, in one of the (so-called recognised) states listed in Annex 8/A of Act CXXVII of 2007 on Value Added Tax (hereinafter: VAT Act) and who do not supply goods or render services within the country with the exception of certain services listed in Point b) of Section 244 (1) of the VAT Act, are entitled to the refund of VAT under the conditions laid down in Chapter XVIII of the VAT Act.
Pursuant to Point a) of Section 95 and Point 1 of Annex 17 of Act XLI of 2018 on the Amendment of Certain Tax Laws and Other Related Acts and on the Immigration Surtax (hereinafter: Amendment Act), a new point, i.e. point 4 has been added to Annex 8/A of the VAT Act from 1 January 2019. Thus, VAT taxable persons established in the Republic of Serbia or have their residence or habitual abode for economic purposes there can now also obtain a refund of VAT in Hungary under the special rules for VAT refunds.
The tax refund under Chapter XVIII of the VAT Act may be applied to taxable persons established in the Republic of Serbia for domestic acquisitions made on or after 1 January 2019.
In addition to Chapter XVIII of the VAT Act, the detailed rules on tax refunds are also set out in Chapter XXIII of Act CL of 2017 on the Rules of Taxation as well as in Decree No. 32/2009 (XII. 21.) PM of the Minister of Finance on the Provisions for Asserting the Right of Taxable Persons Not Established in the Territory of Hungary to the Refund of Value Added Tax in the Republic of Hungary, and the Right of Taxable Persons Established in the Territory of Hungary to the Refund of Value Added Tax in Other Member States of the European Community.
The application for the refund of VAT can be submitted using the so-called IAFAK form (Hungarian language version only).
In parallel with the above, the Serbia has also undertaken to provide a refund of the VAT charged in Serbia to VAT taxable persons established, resident or habitually resident in Hungary.
Information on VAT refunds in Serbia is available on the following website: http://www.purs.gov.rs/en/Non-residents/Vat/Reimbursement-of-VAT.html
[Ministry of Finance, Department of Indirect Taxes PM/343-2/2019 – NTCA, Central Management, Department of Taxpayer Services and Information 2396930205/2019.]