In today’s decision, the European Court of Justice held that the no-poach of players agreement concluded by Portuguese football clubs during the Covid-19 pandemic might be compatible with EU law.
In today’s judgment the European General Court annuls the decision of the European Commission to approve the recapitalization of Lufthansa by Germany, amounting to €6 billion euros, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In its judgement of 18 March 2026 ( III R 20/24), the Supreme Tax Court clarified the requirements for proving a willingness to undertake vocational training under child benefit law. The court thereby confirmed the strict line that a mere assertion that a child is willing to undertake vocational training is not sufficient to establish an entitlement to child benefit.
NIS2 is the European Union’s second directive on network and information system security aimed at strengthening cybersecurity across critical sectors and digital infrastructure. It is much more than just an update to the cybersecurity requirements. Its implementation is not merely an IT project.
The coronavirus emergency aid (with financial support from the federal government) for the months of April, May, and June 2020 is taxable as business income. According to the decision of the Supreme Tax Court, the original approval notice cannot be amended with retroactive effect if the subsidy had to be repaid later.
Services provided by a fitness studio operator are also subject to VAT if the gym is closed. The continued payment of membership fees as well as the replacement services offered by the gym operator during the corona lockdown is an exchange of services subject to VAT. According to a most recent judgment of the Supreme Tax Court this also applies if the members (as the recipients of the service) do not actually make use of the offered gym services, do not wish to do so or are unable to make use of them.
According to a new report released by the European Commission on 24 October 2023 most EU Member States made progress in the enforcement of Value-Added Tax (VAT) compliance in 2021. The annual VAT Gap study, which measures the difference between theoretically expected VAT revenues and the amount actually collected, shows that Member States lost around €61 billion in VAT in 2021, compared to €99 billion in 2020.
Ryanair was unsuccessful in its action against state aid from Sweden before the European General Court as the court of first instance. Within a short period of time, the airline had brought actions against 16 different state aid measures, including the Swedish case involving the state support for the local airline SAS and which is currently pending before the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In his Opinion Advocate General Pitruzzella suggests that the ECJ rejects the appeal in its entirety.
On 28 June 2022, the EU Commission published its Annual Report on Taxation 2022, which according to the EU Commission highlights that EU Member States’ tax revenue has decreased for the first time since the 2009 financial crisis, while public expenditure jumped from 46.5% in 2019 to 53% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis.
When COVID-19 broke out, G20 members pledged to remain open to trade and investment to limit the damage of the pandemic on their economies. The latest OECD-UNCTAD report monitors investment measures taken by G20 members over the past 6 months.
The Council of the European Union adopted an amendment to the VAT directive introducing a temporary VAT exemption on importations and on certain supplies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ‘buy and donate’ directive will make it easier for the Commission and EU agencies to buy goods and services to distribute them free of charge to member states in the context of the ongoing public health crisis.
The German Federal Ministry of Finance has presented the draft bill for a fourth act implementing tax relief measures to address the Corona crisis (Fourth Corona Tax Relief Act) the following tax measures,inter alia, are envisaged:
