37. Refund to foreign traders

(1) A person not established in the territory of the Community to whom section 102 of the Act applies is entitled, under the terms of Council Directive No. 86/560/EEC of 17 November 1986^*, to be repaid tax borne by that person on the purchase of goods or services supplied to that person in the State or in respect of goods imported into the State by that person, if he or she fulfils to the satisfaction of the Commissioners the following conditions:

^* OJ No. L 326 of 21 November 1986, p. 40.

(a) provides proof, in the form of a written document from the relevant official department of the country in which that person has an establishment, that he or she is engaged in carrying on an economic activity,

(b) claims a refund, within 6 months of the end of the calendar year in which the tax became chargeable, by completing and lodging the appropriate claim form, provided for that purpose by the Commissioners, together with the appropriate documentation as specified in subparagraph (c),

(c) establishes the amount of tax borne by the production of the invoice issued by the supplier or the relevant import documents,

(d) establishes that he or she is not entitled to repayment of the tax under any other provision of the Act or Regulations, or any other instrument made under statute that is administered by the Commissioners.

(2) A claim for a refund under this Regulation shall relate to invoiced purchases of goods and services or to imports made during a period, within a calendar year, of not less than 3 months or a period of not more than one calendar year, but where that claim relates to the last quarter of a calendar year a claim for a refund may relate to a period of less than 3 months.

(3) A person is not entitled to make a claim under this Regulation for an amount less than—

(a) €400 if the claim is for a period of less than one calendar year and not less than 3 months,

(b) €50 if the claim is for a period that represents a full calendar year or the last quarter of a calendar year.

(4) The written document mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) shall be taken as evidence of the matters contained therein for the purposes of this Regulation only for a period of one year from the date such document was issued by the official authorities in the State in which that person is established.