Tax & Legal

A limited tax liability on payments by the German State pension fund to a resident of Canada is not nullified by the tax treaty.

A taxpayer who emigrated to the U.K. and who exercised his right under U.K. tax law to pay tax on income not earned in the U.K. on a "remittance basis" is caught by the preferential taxation regime of Sec. 2 (2) No. 2 Foreign Tax Act and subject to extended limited tax liability in Germany.

The ECJ has held that the continued liability to German tax on German sources income of a former resident is not discrimination prohibited by community law.

Interest received by a US limited liability company from convertible bonds issued by a German debtor is subject to German withholding tax pursuant to Sec. 49 (1) No. 5 letter a Income Tax Act. This also applies if partial debentures were issued for these bonds. With its decision, the Supreme Tax Court put an end to the existing discussions and differing opinions in the professional literature regarding the correlation of two provisions in the Income Tax Act on that subject.

The transfer of know-how by a foreign creditor for an unlimited period may lead to limited income tax liability in Germany by way of tax withholding. The fact that the know-how must be used domestically in order to trigger German withholding tax does, according to the Supreme Tax Court, not require that the know-how also had the specified scope, substance and quality to fulfill the purposes pursued in the domestic market.

According to the decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the different inheritance tax allowances in the case of unlimited and limited tax liability is in line with EU law, specifically it is not in breach of the free movement of capital. However, the refusal of the German tax office to deduct liabilities linked to the inheritance in the case of limited tax liability is not compatible with EU law. 

According to a judgment of the Supreme Tax Court, a U.S. citizen with limited tax liability in Germany is not entitled to the right of full tax assessment for income from employment even if he lives in an EU or EEA state (here: the Netherlands). The non-discrimination clause in Article 24 of the German/US double tax treaty does not give rise to a claim to equal treatment with a German national with limited tax liability.

Some of the topics in this issue: Administration amends circular on treaty-shopping rules, Pensions paid abroad subject to limited tax liability, ECJ - Denmark to set-off final losses of foreign EU-branch.

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 case where Germany lost the right to tax the investment in a Spanish corporation the Supreme Tax Court - in contrast to the opinion held by the tax administration - decided that the German exit taxation pursuant to Section 6 para. 1 sentence 1 Foreign Tax Act applies to the year in which the German unlimited income tax liability ends and not at the later point in time when the limited tax liability arises.

At the beginning of November 2017 the Federal Finance Ministry published the long-awaited circular on its intended application of the rules (Section 50a Income Tax Act)applying to limited taxpayers and withholding tax on cross-border licensing of software and databanks.

In this issue: Official Pronouncements, Supreme Tax Court Cases, From Europe and From PwC

The competence of the Federal Central Tax Office is for both full assessment of German income tax of limited taxpayers as well as monitoring and carrying out the withholding tax procedure in accordance with Section 50a (1) Income Tax Act. In a most recently published case, though, the Supreme Tax Court held that it is not permissible for the Central Tax Office to conduct general external tax audits. This is solely the responsibly of the local tax offices.

According to the Cologne Tax Court, the preclusion of German employees resident in Switzerland for full assessment of German income tax is contrary to EU law. The court has referred the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for a preliminary ruling with respect to the Agreement for the Free Movement of Persons between the EU and Switzerland.

The Tax Relief Act 2022 was published on 31 May 2022 and has thus entered into force.

In a decision published in March 2017 the Supreme Tax Court held that - in the case of a two-tier partnership structure – the interest expense of the Dutch partner holding only an indirect share in a German limited partnership is nevertheless tax deductible when computing his limited German tax liability resulting from his investment in the German partnership.

On 17 November 2023, the Bundestag approved the Act to Strengthen Growth Opportunities, Investment, and Innovation as well as Tax Simplification and Fairness (Growth Opportunities Act) in the form recommended by its Finance Committee. The Act will be presented to the Bundesrat on 24 November 2023. It cannot currently be ruled out that the Bundesrat will convene the Mediation Committee to discuss individual provisions of the Act (the climate protection investment premium, in particular, will probably be discussed).

On 7 November 2019, the Bundestag approved the Act on the Further Tax Promotion of Electric Mobility and the Amendment of Further Tax Regulations (Finance Act 2019 – “FA19”) in the version recommended by the Finance Committee of the Bundestag.

In its session of 21 February 2024, the Mediation Committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat concluded its negotiations in relation to the Act to Strengthen Growth Opportunities, Investment, and Innovation as well as Tax Simplification and Fairness

A foreign permanent establishment of a legally independent person resident in Germany cannot be viewed as employer. This was decided by the Supreme Tax Court in a recent judgment regarding the double tax treaties with the Netherlands, Japan, the UK, Spain, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Canada, Singapore, Norway, Greece and France.