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VAT refund

Sometimes the system fails to apply the VAT exemption to a company, if this happens, you can manually refund the VAT to the customer.

Step 1: Check the company VAT status​

  • Go to the VIES page
  • Check the VAT status of the company
  • If it's VIES registered, proceed with the refund

Step 2: Create the refund invoice in the database​

Connect to the database and run the following stored procedure:

CALL remote_logger.create_refund_and_reinvoice(<serial_prefix>, <invoice_number>);
  • The procedure will create a refund invoice for the customer and then a new invoice for the same amount but without the VAT applied.

Step 3: Send the refund via Stripe and remove the VAT from the customer profile​

  • Go to the Stripe dashboard
  • Find the customer in the list. You can query the stripe customer id from the database using:
SELECT
  t.stripe_customer_id,
  t.subscription_id         AS stripe_subscription_id,
  u.email                   AS owner_email
FROM
  remote_logger.teams       AS t
  INNER JOIN remote_logger.invoices    AS i
    ON i.client_opaque_id = t.id
  INNER JOIN remote_logger.user_teams  AS ut
    ON ut.team_id = t.id
   AND ut.role      IN (100, 90)
  INNER JOIN remote_logger.users        AS u
    ON u.id = ut.user_id
WHERE
  i.serial_number_prefix = '<invoice_prefix>'
  AND i.serial_number_number = <invoice_number>;

  • Click on the customer and refund the VAT. For this, you need to go to the customer page in Stripe and refund the VAT from the invoice that was wrongly applied.

  • Once the refund is done, you need to remove the VAT from the customer profile in Stripe. To do this, you need to go to the customer page in Stripe and make sure that the Tax Status is set to Reverse charge.

Step 4: Update the customer​

Send an email to the customer with the following information:

Subject: VAT Invoice Refund - Bugfender

Hi there,

During our recent quarterly billing review, we discovered that VAT was mistakenly applied to your Bugfender subscription.

To correct this, we’ve issued a refund invoice and a new invoice for the same subscription amount, this time without VAT. The VAT amount has been refunded to the payment method on file.

New invoices are attached for your records. The credit notes cancel the original charge, and the new invoice reflects the correct amount without VAT.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reply to this email or contact our support team at support@bugfender.com.

Thank you for your understanding and for being a valued Bugfender customer.

Kind regards

You should also attach the new invoices to the email. You need to attach the two invoices in the email, one is the credit note and the other is the new invoice.

You can download the invoices from Bugfender Invoices.

Step 5: Upload the invoices to Google Drive​

  • Go to the Google Drive
  • Search for the "_Outbox" folder for the current year
  • Upload the invoices to the folder

If you do not have access to the "_Outbox" folder, ask Aleix to add you to the folder (create an Asana task with the invoices attached).