An agreement under which a sportsman under the age of majority is obliged to share part of his future income once he becomes a professional athlete may be in breach of the Directive on unfair terms in consumer contracts. The European Court of Justice held, that the national court must assess the unfairness of such a term by considering whether a legal clause to that effect is plain and intelligible as regards the financial consequences of the commitment.
In a recent ruling, the Supreme Tax Court decided that payments made by the German Sports Aid Foundation (Stiftung Deutsche Sporthilfe) to an athlete constitute business income of the athlete and thus is not only subject to income tax but also trade tax.
The finance ministry has published an extensive decree on the procedures to be followed when accounting for withholding taxes on the fees paid to non-resident artists, athletes, actors and entertainers.
An orchestra musician employed by a public corporation in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is an artist within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of the double tax treaty between Germany and Luxembourg. The Supreme Tax Court has recently decided that his salary is taxable in Germany as income from employment with a credit of the tax paid in Luxembourg.
In a recent ruling, the Supreme Tax Court has commented on the tax treatment of fees paid to artists with limited tax liability for their performances in Germany. A key criterion for tax deduction at source is the intention to make a profit and the commercial objective of the performances in Germany.
In a most recent decision, the Supreme Tax Court held that winnings from online poker games can be subject to income tax. If a poker player plays regularly and successfully in poker tournaments, the gains are qualified as income from a trade or business.
According to a most recent decision of the Supreme Tax Court, the income from employment of a pilot resident in Germany and who is employed in international air traffic by a Swiss-based company is only exempt from German income tax (subject to progression) to the extent that he performs his activity on Swiss soil and in Swiss airspace in accordance with the principle of territoriality.
Is the income earned by a disc jockey taxable as income from a trade or business? Thanks to the persistence of a member of this profession, the question has now been answered. The lawsuit of a disc jockey against his local tax office which took the income as genuine business income was successful: The regional tax court of Duesseldorf held that as an artist he generates income from self-employment and therefore is not subject to trade tax.
The Commission adopted a package of infringement decisions due to the absence of communication by Member States of measures taken to transpose EU directives into national law. In a further measure the Commission adopted five initiatives to strengthen the EU's economic security at a time of growing geopolitical tensions and profound technological shifts.
A soccer player’s promotional activities as a “brand ambassador” do not, on their own, constitute a commercial activity if the fees paid are intended solely to compensate for specific achievements and successes in the field of soccer. This was decided by the Düsseldorf Tax Court.
A tax authority is not required to certify under oath that the information it provided regarding data protection is accurate and complete. In a most recently published judgment, the Supreme Tax Court does not see any legal grounds for this. The court went on to say that it is generally assumed that the information provided is complete and accurate.
A shareholder with a 50.1% stake in a limited liability company (GmbH) who reduces his debt by assigning a non-valuable position designated as a right of first refusal in connection with a property belonging to him to another group company which he indirectly controls might face the consequences of a hidden profit distribution. In a recent judgment the Supreme Tax Court held that this is the case if the GmbH “pays” for this by “taking over” the negative clearing account with the other group company.
The fact that a commercial limited partnership (KG) receives income ranking as business income because of the so called „tainting effect“ does not preclude the partial write-off of a worthless loan owed to its partner if the principles of corresponding accounting between partnership and the partners no longer apply because of the discontinuation (cessation) of the business of the KG. Unlike the tax court of first instance, the Supreme Tax Court allowed the loss from the partial write-down to be recognized already at the time of the cessation of the business activities.
In a recently published judgment, the Supreme Tax Court decided that, despite its professional qualification status, paramedic training does not constitute a completion of initial vocational training which is detrimental for granting the child benefit.
The German federal government has adopted a draft bill to modernize German cooperative law. According to a press release issued by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV), the draft bill adopted on July 15, 2026, is intended to accelerate the formation of cooperatives, further promote digitalization, and strengthen safeguards against the misuse of the cooperative legal form.
In particular, the draft bill provides for the following key changes:
In a decision on 30 August 2017 the Supreme Tax Court held that where a third party provides his employees to a football club to serve as players, trainers or counsellors without receiving adequate consideration, the waiver of such compensation is to be considered as a taxable gift of the third party to the football club.
The Supreme Tax Court has held that a payment to an Austrian agency for the right to broadcast sporting events is not subject to withholding tax as a payment to the athlete(s) appearing.
Today, the European Commission and the United Kingdom have signed the EU-UK Agreement in respect of Gibraltar. Once the Parliament's consent is obtained, the Council can proceed with the adoption of its decision on conclusion of the Agreement.
On January 14, 2026, the Federal Cabinet approved the draft of a Ninth Act Amending The Tax Consultancy Act and Other Tax Regulations. Among the various proposed amendment, the draft contains the following amendments with regard to supplementary real estate transfer tax provisions.
In a recently published judgment, the Supreme Tax Court decided in a case involving the transfer of a limited partnership to the sole remaining limited partner in the legal form of a limited liability company (GmbH) by way of universal succession through accrual, among other things, that the limited partner's allowable loss determined at the time of termination within the meaning of Section 15a (4) of the Income Tax Act can be offset by the limited limited company against its future profits.
