A company that supplies goods from Luxembourg or that purchases and receives goods in Luxembourg must declare its transactions to the Luxembourg Registration Duties, Estates and VAT Authority (AED). It therefore must have a Luxembourg VAT number.
A foreign company that is neither established nor registered for VAT in Luxembourg may, in certain cases, authorize an approved tax representative established in Luxembourg to declare its purchases and sales transactions. The tax representative will replace the foreign company to fulfil its Luxembourg VAT obligations.
In what cases must an operator have a VAT number?
Companies that are established in Luxembourg that purchase and/or resell or lease goods, or carry out certain services, must register for Luxembourg VAT, regardless of the location of the goods in the world.
Companies that are not established in Luxembourg must register for Luxembourg VAT in the following cases:
- when they import goods into Luxembourg in order to sell them or transfer them to another Member State
- when they purchase goods that are delivered in Luxembourg in order to resell them in Luxembourg or abroad
- when they supply or receive taxable services in Luxembourg.
Note: companies that are not established in Luxembourg and that only conduct exempt transactions under the Luxembourg VAT suspensive arrangements are not required to register for Luxembourg VAT.
For example: as sole activity in Luxembourg, a Swiss company purchases goods that are stored in a free zone and sells them within the free zone. This Swiss company is not required to register for Luxembourg VAT in order to declare the sale.
How to obtain a Luxembourg VAT number?
Companies that need to obtain a Luxembourg VAT number should file an initial VAT return with the competent tax office of the Registration Duties, Estates and VAT Authority.
Foreign companies without headquarters or any permanent establishment in Luxembourg must contact the Tax Office Luxembourg 10.
Note: companies that are not established in the fiscal territory of the European Union (EU) may be required to provide a cash deposit or a guarantee letter to the Registration Duties, Estates and VAT Authority in order to guarantee the fulfillment of their VAT obligations.
Option for foreign companies: VAT tax representation
Any foreign company that is not established nor registered for Luxembourg VAT may appoint, prior to a specific transaction, an approved Luxembourg tax representative who, after accepting the appointment, will declare these transactions on its behalf. This possibility is available to companies established in the tax territory of the EU, as well as to the ones established outside of the EU.
The Luxembourg tax representative must hold a special accreditation with assignment of a specific VAT number. The tax representative will use its specific VAT number for the transactions of foreign companies it agreed to represent, and will declare all their transactions in a single monthly VAT return for all the companies it represents.
The appointment of a tax representative is possible for certain types of flows only. It should be noted that there are two types of tax representation in Luxembourg: tax representation for imported goods and tax representation for goods in a VAT suspensive arrangement. An operator wishing to act as a tax representative for the two types of activities must hold two accreditations and two separate specific VAT numbers.
Other VAT obligations
All companies identified for Luxembourg VAT must adhere to the general laws and regulations applicable in Luxembourg and, in particular, fulfill the following obligations:
- file periodic VAT returns and recapitulative statements
- file Intrastat declarations when the conditions are met
- issue invoices in compliance with the requirements of the Luxembourg VAT law
- maintain its accounting in compliance with the requirements of the Luxembourg VAT law
- keep their documents and data for 10 years.