You can get VAT back on hotels only if the stay was for business, the country allows hotel VAT recovery, and your invoice and paperwork meet that country’s rules. Leisure travelers do not qualify. Even for business travelers, several major destinations, including France and Spain, block hotel VAT recovery outright, so the first question is always which country you spent the money in.
Business Travel Only
Hotel VAT refunds exist for companies, not tourists. The tax is designed to fall on the person consuming the service, and a vacationer sleeping in a Paris hotel is exactly who it targets. A company sending an employee to a client meeting or a trade show is a different case: the expense serves commercial activity, so a refund route exists in some jurisdictions.
To qualify, your business generally cannot have a permanent establishment or a VAT registration in the country where the hotel bill was issued.1Federal Tax Administration FTA. VAT Refund to Companies With Their Domicile on Foreign Territory The stay must be genuinely work-related. Tax authorities do scrutinize claims that look like disguised holidays, and if an employee added personal days onto a business trip, only the business portion of the room nights is eligible.
Two EU directives set the framework. Businesses based in the EU claim refunds from other member states through Directive 2008/9/EC and an electronic cross-border system.2European Commission. VAT Refunds – Taxation and Customs Union Companies based outside the EU fall under the Thirteenth Council Directive (86/560/EEC).3EUR-Lex. Thirteenth Council Directive 86/560/EEC
Countries That Won’t Refund Hotel VAT
Check this before doing anything else. Several countries treat hotel accommodation as a category where input VAT is simply not recoverable, no matter how clearly the stay served a business purpose.
France is the most important example. French rules make VAT on hotel room charges non-recoverable for company executives or employees. A US company sending its sales team to a Paris trade show will pay VAT on every room and have no path to reclaim it. Spain likewise does not allow VAT recovery on hotel bills for non-resident businesses. Between them, these are two of the highest-volume business travel destinations in Europe, and many companies learn about the block only after wasting time on a claim that could never succeed.
Other countries impose partial limits. Italy ties recoverability to its own domestic deductibility rules, so categories of hotel spending that Italian businesses themselves can’t deduct are also off-limits to foreign claimants. The UK blocks recovery on “business entertainment or hospitality expenses” for overseas claimants, and the line between hospitality and ordinary employee lodging is not always clean.4GOV.UK. Refunds of UK VAT for Non-UK Businesses (VAT Notice 723A)
Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland are generally more workable for foreign businesses claiming hotel VAT back, as long as the standard eligibility and documentation rules are met.5Federal Central Tax Office. Electronic Data Transmission – BZSt A short check on the destination country’s rules before you file will save weeks.
The US Reciprocity Problem
American businesses face an extra hurdle. Both the 13th Directive and individual country rules let EU member states refuse VAT refunds to non-EU businesses if the claimant’s home country does not offer similar refund rights to EU businesses. The United States has no federal VAT or equivalent turnover tax, so there is nothing to reciprocate.
Countries handle this differently. The UK says it will refuse on reciprocity grounds only if the applicant’s country operates a refund scheme but excludes UK businesses from it; because the US has no such scheme at all, that clause is treated as a non-issue.4GOV.UK. Refunds of UK VAT for Non-UK Businesses (VAT Notice 723A) Other countries read the clause more strictly. The result is a patchwork.
Wherever a claim is possible, foreign tax authorities usually want proof that your company is a genuine US tax resident. The IRS issues that proof as Form 6166, a Treasury-letterhead certification of US tax residency, and specifically notes it can be used to obtain a VAT exemption or refund abroad.6Internal Revenue Service. Form 6166 – Certification of US Tax Residency You request it by filing Form 8802 and paying a user fee of $85 for individual applicants or $185 for businesses.7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8802 Processing takes several weeks, and some countries want the certificate to cover the specific tax year of the expense, so start the request well ahead of any filing deadline.
What the Invoice Has to Show
Even in a country that allows the refund, the claim rises or falls on your invoice. A standard hotel receipt or a credit card statement is not enough. You need a formal VAT invoice showing:
- The hotel’s legal name and VAT identification number.
- The net room price, the applicable VAT rate, and the VAT amount broken out separately.
- Your company’s name and registered business address, not the individual traveler’s name.
- The invoice date and a sequential invoice number.
Ask for the invoice at checkout. Front desk staff can usually produce a compliant document on the spot if you give them your company details and tell them it’s a corporate expense. Chasing a corrected invoice weeks later is a coin flip, and many hotels will not reissue.
Bookings Through Expedia, Booking.com, and Similar Sites
Online travel platforms are a common trap. They typically issue their own confirmation receipt rather than passing through the hotel’s VAT invoice. That receipt often lacks the hotel’s VAT number, omits the tax breakdown, or lists the platform as the vendor instead of the hotel. Bundled flight-plus-hotel packages may not produce an itemized receipt at all.
If you booked through a third party for business travel, contact the hotel directly and ask for a proper VAT invoice in your company’s name. Some platforms state openly that issuing tax invoices is the hotel’s job, not theirs. A claim supported only by an OTA confirmation screen will almost certainly be rejected.
How to File
Where you send the claim depends on where your company is based.
EU-Based Businesses
EU companies file through their own national tax authority’s electronic portal under Directive 2008/9/EC, not directly with the country that collected the tax. Your home tax office verifies your VAT number and forwards the claim to the member state concerned.2European Commission. VAT Refunds – Taxation and Customs Union Digital copies of the invoices are uploaded with the submission.
Non-EU Businesses
Companies based outside the EU generally file directly with the tax authority of the country where the expense occurred. Most operate an electronic portal with a one-time registration. Germany’s Federal Central Tax Office, for instance, runs the BZSt online portal for non-EU claimants.5Federal Central Tax Office. Electronic Data Transmission – BZSt A few countries still accept or require mailed original invoices, but that is increasingly rare.
Once submitted, the tax authority checks the invoices, confirms the hotel is a registered taxpayer, and verifies the amounts. Approved refunds are usually paid by bank transfer in local currency, so expect small exchange rate movement and possible receiving-bank fees.
Deadlines
Miss these and the money is gone. Extensions are rarely granted.
- Non-EU businesses: claims for the previous calendar year must generally be submitted by June 30 in most EU member states, though a few countries use a different date.
- EU businesses: cross-border claims within the EU are due by September 30 following the end of the calendar year in which the VAT was incurred.
- United Kingdom: the refund period runs July 1 to June 30 of the following year, and applications must be filed by December 31 after the end of that prescribed year.4GOV.UK. Refunds of UK VAT for Non-UK Businesses (VAT Notice 723A)
Charges on the Bill That Won’t Come Back
Not every line on a hotel invoice qualifies, even in refund-friendly countries. Separately charged items such as catering, car parking, equipment rental, and bar tabs are standard-rated and treated as their own supplies rather than part of the room charge.8GOV.UK. Hotels and Holiday Accommodation (VAT Notice 709/3) Whether VAT on those items comes back depends on local rules, and entertainment or hospitality spending is blocked in many jurisdictions even when it happened on a legitimate business trip.
Breakfast bundled into the room rate is the classic gray area. Some countries want the hotel to split the charge between accommodation and meals, with different VAT rates or recovery rules on each part. If the invoice shows a single undivided “room and breakfast” figure, the tax authority may reduce or deny the meal portion. Where practical, book room-only rates and pay for meals separately so the invoice stays clean.
Long stays get more complex. For inclusive-rate stays beyond 28 days, the hotel typically has to split the bill between accommodation and other services like meals and drinks, with VAT applying differently to each.8GOV.UK. Hotels and Holiday Accommodation (VAT Notice 709/3) For a long-term project, ask the hotel to build that apportionment into the invoice from the start rather than trying to reconstruct it later.