When a company gets caught up in the deadlines for obtaining a VAT credit refund

In 2018, a company filed a claim for a VAT credit refund for the 2017 tax year.

Following an audit,administration a reassessment proposal July 30, 2019, stating that the VAT credit for which a refund had been requested was not recorded in the accounting records.administration then indicated that they would proceed to cancel the credit.

The company filed a new refund claim on October 15, 2020, which included, among other things, the previous VAT credit.

When no response was received to this request, the company filed a complaint with the administrative court, which partially denied its request.

The Administrative Court of Appeal hearing the case will first note that a request for a VAT credit constitutes an administrative appeal and that the express rejection of such a request triggers the two-month deadline for filing a claim with the administrative court only if the rejection notice specifies the available remedies and time limits. In the absence of such a statement, the time limit available to the taxpayer to bring the matter before the court is, barring exceptional circumstances, one year from the time the taxpayer becomes aware of the rejection of their claim. After this period, the taxpayer can no longer challenge the rejection of their claim.

The Court will therefore hold that the cancellation of the VAT credit mentioned in the reassessment proposal July 30, 2019, did indeed constitute a rejection of the claim for the first request for a VAT credit refund.

It therefore concluded that the decision to deny the request for a VAT credit refund became final on August 5, 2020 (i.e., one year after receipt of the reassessment proposal the credit). Consequently, after that date, the company could no longer“claim the right to carry forward the disputed tax credit.”

It therefore finds that the second application for a VAT credit refund, filed on October 15, 2020, was late.

CAA Paris, July 17, 2025, No. 23PA04929

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