In two judgments published in April 2025, the Supreme Tax Court decided that a corporation in which there is an atypical silent partnership can be a subsidiary within a corporation tax group. With its rulings, the court deviated from an earlier opinion of the tax authorities. The Federal Ministry of Finance has now commented on the consequences of the two judgments.
Shareholders of a U.S.-based S corporation are eligible for a full refund of the withholding tax on dividends paid by a German-based subsidiary. This was decided by the Supreme Tax Court in a recently published judgment.
In a request for a preliminary ruling, the Supreme Tax Court has referred several questions to the ECJ regarding the compatibility of non-profit tax status and the prohibition of state aid under EU law. The question to be answered is whether the extension of tax relief for special-purpose entities to companies that provide services for remuneration in cooperation with a corporation that is recognized as a non-profit organization (so-called service corporation) constitutes illicit state aid in accordance with Art. 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
In two recent decisions published on 28 November 2024, the Supreme Tax Court commented on the tax privileged non-profit status (public-benefit purpose) of extremist corporations and the presumption of conformity resulting from a Federation’s or a Land’s report on the protection of the constitution according to Sections 51 (3) sentence 2 of the German Fiscal Code.
The principle of altruism (selflessness) in the context of a non-profit organization does not only preclude economic benefits for members in their professional sphere. Economic benefits in the private sphere are also detrimental to a charitable status, the Supreme Tax Court said in a most recently published decision.
An untypical silent partnership in the controlled group company does not generally prevent the recognition of a consolidated tax group for corporation tax purposes. With this current decision, the Supreme Tax Court disagrees with the previous opinion of the tax authorities.
In a recent judgment, the Supreme Tax Court held that Section 8b (6) sentence 2 of the German Corporation Tax Act as part of the tax exemption rules for dividends from participations in corporations and associations does not apply to savings banks that are organized as legal entity governed by private law.
In a most recent circular the Federal Ministry of Finance commented on the method of the foreign corporation tax credit under the formerly applicable German imputation system. The focus of the circular are two judgments of the European Court of Justice as regards the calculation and verification of the creditable corporation tax underlying a dividend from another EU country.
The failure to tax the deemed capital gain under Section 17 (1) Sentence 2 Income Tax Act at the level of the shareholder in the case of a hidden contribution of shares in a corporation is not a reduction in income as provided in Section 8 (3) Sentence 4 Corporation Tax Act which would otherwise result in an increase in taxable income. This was decided by the Supreme Tax Court in a recently published judgment.
In a recently published circular, the Federal Ministry of Finance (MoF) commented on the minimum running period of profit and loss pooling agreements (PLPA) and on partnerships acting as controlling entities. The current letter now supersedes the previous letter on these subjects of 10 November 2005 in its entirety.
According to Section 7 (8) sentence 1 of the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act, the increase in value of shares in a corporation is deemed to be a gift. In a most recently published decision, the Supreme Tax Court held that this provision does not contain any subjective elements, neither in the form of awareness of the gratuitous nature nor of an intention of personal enrichment.
In its decision of 6 June 2025 (II B 43/24 (AdV)) the Supreme Tax Court held that, upon summary examination, it was seriously doubtful whether contributions made by a shareholder to the capital reserve of a limited liability company (GmbH) lead to a taxable increase in the value of the shares of the co-shareholders within the meaning of Section 7(8) Sentence 1 of the Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act (“IHTGTA”) if the shareholders agree that the contributions are to be allocated to the contributing shareholder.
A Paris civil court has drawn a clear line on the limits of environmental marketing by large energy companies. On 23rd of October 2025 (N° RG 22/02955 – N° Portalis 352J-W-B7G-CWJKL), the court held that TotalEnergies may not advertise climate neutrality where the company’s actual business conduct does not align with that claim. The decision sets an important benchmark for environmental communications in the European energy sector, emphasizing that sustainability promises must be credibly substantiated by concrete corporate measures.
The Commission has recently published a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) to support stakeholders in the implementation of the EU corporate sustainability reporting rules. The publication is part of the Commission's continuous effort to make the EU sustainable finance framework more usable for companies and reduce the administrative burden on them.
The Supreme Tax Court decided that remuneration agreements (for profit related bonuses and sales bonuses) between a stock corporation (AG) and a member of the management board who is also a minority shareholder are generally to be recognized for tax purposes. Only in exceptional cases are they treated as a hidden profit distribution, specifically if there are clear indications in individual cases that the supervisory board of the AG has unilaterally focused on the interests of the management board member in the remuneration agreement.
In a most recent decision, the Supreme Tax Court held that the legal form of an institution is not relevant for the qualification as financial company within the meaning of Section 8b (7) sentence 2 of the Corporation Tax Act to be read in connection with Section 1 (3) of the German Banking Act. Therefore, a family foundation under private law can also be considered as finance institution if they are primarily engaged in financial activities.
On 14 December 2023, the German Financing for the Future Act (Zukunftsfinanzierungsgesetz, ZuFinG) went into force. The law aims at promoting corporate financing via capital markets and making shares more attractive to the public.
When valuing an unlisted share in a corporation for gift tax purposes a constant flat-rate holding markdown is not acceptable. The market value of an unlisted share in a corporation can only be derived from sales between third parties if the sales take place in the normal course of business and in accordance with ongoing market principles, the Supreme Tax Court said in a most recent judgment.
On 14 April 2025 the Council adopted a directive (DAC9) that will extend cooperation and information exchange in the area of minimum effective corporate taxation.
In case of merger of a corporation into a partnership during the year the Supreme Tax Court decided that the acquiring legal entity as the ("new") controlling company also fulfills the requirement of financial integration as a prerequisite for a tax group („Organschaft“) of the former controlling company even if the conversion is not made with retroactive effect from the beginning of the financial year.
