Service

Cash Back offers a range of solutions for the recovery of VAT to a wide range of customers from various sectors. Our services and the process of administrative transactions can be summarised as follows:

  • Recovery of foreign value added tax
  • Recovery of Swiss value added tax
  • Retrieval service
  • VAT registrations

 

Your benefits

Cash Back maximises your VAT refund, while reducing your administrative effort and costs to a minimum. Our upgraded operating systems and specified working standards, combined with Cash Back’s local expertise result in an extremely quick processing time and a consistently high VAT recovery rate. Our local partners are familiar with the laws of the respective country, communicate with the authorities in the local language and simultaneously act as your tax representative in all countries where this may be necessary.

Our “Good Working Practices” that determine our methods of working and guidelines within the Cash Back Group and our “Cash back Online System” provide control and transparency. Through our “Cash Back Online System”, which can be accessed by our customers, we can clearly locate your application at all times, see which VAT amounts are to be expected, and when the VAT refund has been paid out to you. 

Last but not least, we place particular emphasis on first-class and personal customer service.

 

 

Reclaiming foreign VAT

For companies based in Switzerland

In order to reclaim the VAT, the original invoices and the corresponding applications for each country must be submitted to the authorities of the country in which the tax was paid.

Cash Back will ensure that your application is submitted correctly and in full to the authorities, so that we can claim back the maximum amount of VAT for you.

Our specialists will also help in the following areas:

  • Analysis of your VAT reclaim options
  • Procurement and provision of all relevant and recoverable VAT receipts from your Accounts Department through trained Cash Back employees (document search service)
  • In-house training of your staff on the procurement and provision of all relevant and recoverable VAT receipts from your Accounts Department 
  • Contacting suppliers for corrections/adjustments for foreign invoices (incorrect or missing details such as your complete company address)
  • Contacting suppliers to obtain credit notes in the event of VAT being wrongly or incorrectly charged

Do you have any questions regarding the recovery of foreign VAT or would you like to request the relevant documents on the subject?    Contact us!

 

For companies based abroad

Since 2010, the procedure for the recovery for applicants from the EU who would like to claim VAT back from another EU state is no longer the same as the procedure that a Swiss company (and companies from other non-EU states) has to follow. Since 2010, applications for the refunding of VAT are no longer submitted directly to the Member State that will process the compensation. Taxpayers established outside of the Member State that will process the compensation have to file an electronic refund application via the electronic portal set up by their country of residence to the Member State that will process the compensation. Thanks to the Cash Back network, we are of course also able to submit EU portal files and so we are glad to help our customers based abroad to maximise their recovery of VAT.

Do you have any questions regarding the recovery of foreign VAT through the EU-Portal or would you like to request the relevant documents on the subject?    Contact us!

 

Recovery of Swiss VAT

 

For companies based abroad

Cash Back provides you with a comprehensive VAT recovery service. Our specialists will help you in the following areas:

  • Analysis of your VAT reclaim options
  • Contacting suppliers for corrections/adjustments for invoices (incorrect or missing details such as your complete company address)
  • Submission of VAT applications, as well as completing the necessary enquiries on the part of the Swiss authorities
  • Contacting suppliers to obtain credit notes in the event of VAT being wrongly or incorrectly charged

 

The following requirements/provisions apply for the recovery:

  • The applicant must have a residence or place of business abroad and be able to provide evidence of their business enterprise there.
  • The purpose of the services purchased must contribute to the generation of sales which – if realised in Switzerland – would be subject to VAT here.
  • The applicant must appoint a tax representative (Cash Back VAT Reclaim AG) whose registered office is in Switzerland
  • The application for a refund must be submitted within six months after the end of the calendar year in which the services were purchased (the deadline for the Swiss authorities is the 30th of June)
  • The original relevant documents (invoices) must be supplied
  • The minimum amount per application must be at least CHF 500.00 VAT 
  • Only one application for a refund can be submitted per year
  • The application can only be submitted from the 1st of January of the following year

Do you have any questions about the refund of Swiss VAT or would you like to request the corresponding documents?    Contact us!

 

For companies based in Switzerland

Cash Back will not only reclaim foreign VAT, but also Swiss VAT for you. Lots of companies do not book the VAT from Swiss travel expenses in their accounts and therefore give this money away, which can be reclaimed in a relatively straightforward way – with Cash Back.

Cash Back is also happy to check, sort and list your Swiss travel expenses and / or your accounts payable invoices. Ultimately, the only thing you need to do is incorporate the pre-tax amount in your tax return. This cuts down on work and time, and optimises your input tax recovery in your Swiss VAT return.

It should be noted that the Swiss VAT return can be corrected retrospectively for up to 5 years.

Do you have any questions about the refund of Swiss VAT or would you like to request the corresponding documents?    Contact us!

    

Retrieval service

Cash Back will find the relevant and VAT-compliant documents for you directly from your Accounts Department or your accounts payable and expenses folders. We do this either directly on your premises or you can send your folders to us in Cham. In doing so Cash Back maximizes your VAT refund, while reducing your administrative efforts and costs to a minimum – you can concentrate fully on your core business.

Do you have any questions about VAT registrations?    Contact us!

 

VAT Registrations

In addition to a VAT refund for input VAT recovery applications, Cash Back also offers VAT registrations in the EU and Switzerland. We take care of everything: from the application for your tax registration number with the local authorities, the creation and application of your tax return and review of the tax policy, to the mandatory reporting of all transactions undertaken in intra-European trade and all other general VAT matters.

Do you have any questions about VAT registrations?    Contact us!

 

FAQ

How long does the entire refund process take?

This varies from country to country. On average, it takes 12 months to get your money back.

What happens to the original invoices?

After the refund has been paid, they are returned to the applicant (in almost all countries).

Does this create too much extra work for us?

This will only create a little additional work compared with what you gain. The value of the refunds considerably exceeds the additional costs.

What will my accountant say if I give my permission for original invoices to be sent away from my company?

Thanks to our Cash Back online tracking system, you can see at any time that we have submitted an application for reclaiming foreign VAT on your behalf and our experience confirms that this information/confirmation is sufficient.

Our subsidiary pays our travel costs when we visit it abroad.

The company that has incurred the costs should actually pay these costs.

Our subsidiary submits an application on our behalf for the refund of the VAT with the local authorities there.

The refund of VAT for a foreign company is not the same as that for a domestic company as far as, for example, formal requirements, deadlines for submission etc. are concerned.

We do not pay any VAT. Is the VAT then already deducted abroad?

Yes that is the case for the export of goods, but with many services the costumer has to look after its own rights.

How do I record this refund in my accounting?

We strongly recommend that the VAT refunds are recorded as extraordinary income or, if they are recorded as accounts receivable (for large amounts of VAT), to set up an appropriate del credere.