In a most recent decision, the Supreme Tax Court held that a residential apartment that is rented exclusively to tourist guests and is kept available for this purpose during the rest of the year is generally to be recognized for tax purposes. It can generally be assumed that the taxpayer intends to generate a surplus income if the rental period does not fall significantly (i.e., by at least 25%) below the usual local rental period for residential apartments.
The reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) rate does not only apply to the rental of land and the buildings fixed to it, but also in general to the rental of living and sleeping quarters by an entrepreneur for the short-term accommodation of strangers. According to the Supreme Tax Court this also includes the renting of non-stationary living containers to harvesters (seasonal workers).
The Supreme Tax Court considers a sale-and-lease-back transaction as a taxable other service rather than a lease or the tax-exempt grant of a loan if the chosen scenario is a reasonable non-tax driven choice of form used to enable the seller (lessee) to enjoy certain accounting and reporting benefits.
The Supreme Tax Court has held that there is no constitutional objection to the partial disallowance of rental costs for trade tax, even if the tenant has sublet the premises.
