FastVAT

What FastVAT does

FastVAT s.r.o., founded in 2012 and headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, is a specialist financial services firm that recovers foreign VAT and excise duty on behalf of European and extra-European road hauliers. The company covers all 27 EU member states plus the United Kingdom, Norway, and Switzerland for VAT refunds, and recovers excise duty on diesel fuel for transport companies refueling in France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, and Hungary. Its primary differentiator is a pre-financing capability that advances VAT refunds to customers within three days of receiving electronic invoices, versus the four-to-six-month standard government processing timeline.

The company's technology stack consists of an online management platform and a customer-facing extranet portal (extranet.fastvat.com) that supports electronic invoice submission, claim processing, and real-time status monitoring. The platform is offered in 12 languages and is paired with a distributed sales and support operation: local offices in at least eight European countries (France, Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland) provide in-language field sales and customer service. FastVAT generates revenue through transaction-based fees on processed refund claims under a single-tariff model, with billing cadence options (weekly, monthly, quarterly) that also act as pre-financing tiers; the pre-financing premium represents a recurring revenue stream tied to working capital deployment.

FastVAT operates as a subsidiary within the Move Expert Group, a diversified European transportation services conglomerate, and in November 2024 announced a strategic partnership with Shell to integrate VAT and excise recovery into Shell's fuel card offerings. Its customer segments include direct road hauliers, VAT specialists and accountancy firms, payment solution and fuel card providers, and freight forwarders and logistics groups managing subcontractor networks. The company is privately held with no disclosed venture funding, 11-50 employees, and Sébastien Schmitt serving as CEO.

Name

FastVAT

Legal name

FASTVAT SRO

Website

https://fastvat.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

FastVAT is a Prague-based specialist financial services firm that recovers foreign VAT and excise duty for European road hauliers across all 27 EU member states plus UK, Norway, and Switzerland, using an online platform and a 3-day pre-financing capability to accelerate customer cash flow.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tax Refund Services for Transport Industry

akta.pro primary industry

VAT/GST Tax Recovery & Receipt Compliance (THACADAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Fleet Tax & Regulatory Reporting (IFTA/IRP, VAT/GST Fuel Reclaims) (TLABAMAH)

Keywords

• VAT refund services
• Excise duty refunds
• Cross-border VAT recovery
• Road haulier tax services
• Transport invoice processing

Headquarters

HQ city

Praha

HQ country

Czechia

HQ region

Europe

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. VAT Refund Processing Services: FastVAT processes and files foreign VAT refund claims for European road hauliers. The service uses a single tariff model for all invoices and all countries, with pricing dependent on the chosen formula (quarterly, monthly, or weekly refund periods).
2. Excise Duty Refund Services: Recovery of excise duty on diesel fuel for transport companies refueling in France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, and Hungary. Available as standard refund or fast pre-financing option.
3. Pre-financing Services: FastVAT pre-finances VAT and excise duty refunds to improve customer cash flow. Customers receive money faster than standard government processing timelines, paying a premium for this accelerated service.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

FastVAT processes and files foreign VAT refund claims across all 27 EU member states and selected non-EU countries (UK, Norway, Switzerland) for European road hauliers, and recovers excise duty on diesel fuel purchased in France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, and Hungary. Refund filings are managed end-to-end on the company's online Extranet platform, with an optional pre-financing service that pays customers within 3 days of receiving electronic invoices instead of waiting for slow government processing.

Product overview

FastVAT offers a unified financial services platform for European road transport companies, comprising two core services: VAT Refund (covering all 27 EU member states plus UK, Norway, and Switzerland) and Excise Duty Refund (for fuel taxes in France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, and Hungary). Both services are accessible through a centralized Online Management Platform (Extranet) where users upload invoices, track claims, and receive payments. The company provides pre-financing options for faster access to refunds.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• VAT Refund Service Processing and filing service for foreign VAT refund claims owed to European and extra-European road hauliers. Covers all 27 EU member states plus the United Kingdom, Norway, and Switzerland. Available with an optional pre-financing service that pays VAT refunds within 3 days of receiving electronic invoices, as well as a standard refund option.
• Excise Duty Refund Service Service to recover excise duty on diesel fuel refuelled in France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, and Hungary by transport companies operating commercial vehicles. Available as a standard refund or fast quarterly option, with documented savings up to €0.1913 per litre in Belgium.
• Online Management Platform (Extranet) Self-serve customer portal where transport company clients upload supplier invoices for refund processing, monitor VAT and excise duty claim status in real time, and access payment overviews. GDPR-compliant and available across the European customer base.

Quantifiable outcome

• VAT refund within 3 days after receiving electronic invoices
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ShellcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 November 2024FastVAT and Shell announced a strategic partnership in November 2024. The partnership builds on years of expertise and innovation between the two companies. FastVAT, since its creation in 2012, established its expertise in the VAT refund market for transport companies, while Shell provides fuel solutions to the same customer base.
• Move Expert GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFastVAT is part of the Move Expert Group, which provides complementary services including toll and fuel solutions (road tolls), ferry bookings, and mobility packages. Being part of a group providing complementary services ensures additional benefits for many customers.
• EurotaxminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEurotax provides tax advisory and expertise services as a complement to FastVAT's VAT refund services. Eurotax operates in the French market (eurotax.fr) and provides additional tax consultation capabilities.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Sovos: Sovos is a global tax-compliance platform offering VAT determination, filing, and recovery solutions for businesses across jurisdictions, including indirect tax services for transport and logistics. Comparable as a broader tax-tech incumbent that encompasses FastVAT-like VAT recovery within a wider regulatory-compliance portfolio.
• Avalara: Avalara is a large tax-compliance platform offering automated VAT, sales tax, and other indirect tax solutions globally, including cross-border VAT recovery features. Comparable as a broad incumbent addressing the same fundamental multi-jurisdictional tax problem with a software-led model targeting a broader customer base than FastVAT's transport focus.
• Vertex: Vertex is an established tax technology provider offering end-to-end indirect tax compliance including VAT determination, e-invoicing, and returns. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the tax-tech space with overlapping capabilities to FastVAT's VAT refund service, though typically serving larger enterprises with integrated compliance needs.
• Ryan LLC: Ryan is a global tax services and advisory firm providing VAT recovery, tax credit, and incentive services for businesses including transport-sector clients. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering VAT recovery within a wider tax-advisory portfolio, competing for the same transport-company wallet.

Direct peers

• VAT-IT: VAT-IT is a specialist VAT reclaim service for businesses, including transport and logistics companies operating across multiple jurisdictions. Most directly comparable to FastVAT given shared focus on cross-border VAT recovery for corporate clients, with similar pre-financing/acceleration capabilities.
• Marosa: Marosa provides EU VAT compliance and reporting solutions, including VAT recovery filings, primarily serving businesses with cross-border activity. Directly comparable to FastVAT for European VAT recovery, with overlap in target customer profiles (multi-country operators) and similar regulatory expertise requirements.
• Taxback International: Taxback International provides VAT refund and tax recovery services for businesses including those in transport and logistics, with multi-country coverage in Europe. Closely comparable to FastVAT in core offering (foreign VAT recovery), now operating as part of the broader Sovos tax-compliance platform.

Emerging players

• Fonoa: Fonoa is an API-first tax compliance platform automating VAT determination, invoicing, and reporting for global businesses including mobility and logistics operators. Comparable as an emerging digital-first competitor attacking the same multi-jurisdictional VAT problem FastVAT addresses, though with a more software/automation-led model.
• Refundit: Refundit is a digital VAT refund service primarily focused on tourists and travelers, applying similar electronic-claim-processing technology. Comparable as an adjacent emerging player using digital processing for VAT recovery, though serving a different end customer (consumers vs FastVAT's B2B transport focus).

Others

• DKV Mobility: DKV Mobility is a major European provider of fuel cards, tolling services, and value-added services (including VAT/excise duty refund support) for fleet operators. Comparable as an adjacent ecosystem participant serving the same transport-company customer base with related financial services, including fuel-card-integrated VAT recovery offerings.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/fastvatmoveexpertgroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fastvat

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FastVAT