Tax & Legal

Under certain conditions, changes in shareholders and the admission of new investors will in future be possible without giving rise to a forfeiture of losses carried-forward. On 23 December 2016 the Act for the Further Development of Tax Loss Utilisation for Corporations was published after having been adopted by the German Parliament (Bundestag and Bundesrat) on 20 December 2016.

The European Court of Justice will have to decide once again on the justification of the non-deductibility of ‘final losses’ in the foreseeable future. In two Swedish cases the Advocate General has formulated her opinion and is not convinced of a "finality" or cross-border loss utilisation due to the particularities of the cases.

According to a decision of the Supreme Tax Court published on 21 October 2021, the loss of a silent partner's contribution, which is reflected as a partial write-down for tax purposes, does not fall within the scope of the loss utilisation restriction under Section 2a (1) Sentence 1 No. 5 in conjunction with Sentence 2 Income Tax Act (ITA).

In this issue: PwC Reports, Official Pronouncements and Supreme Tax Court Cases.

Payments made to a purchaser to compensate for a poor economic position following the transfer of an interest in a partnership may not be deducted from the domestic tax base to the extent they are attributable to a foreign branch (i.e. a permanent establishment for tax treaty purposes) of the partnership. In its decision the Supreme Tax Court cited a decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) from 2015.

If the shareholder's right of membership in a domestic stock corporation (AG) lapses because the AG is dissolved, wound up and deleted from the register as a result of insolvency, the shareholder incurs a taxable loss if he does not receive his contribution back in full or in part.

The German Constitutional Court held that the rules for curtailment of loss relief on change of shareholders to be in breach of the formal provisions of the constitution under the principle of equal treatment insofar as changes of more than 25% and up to 50% of the shares in a company within a period of five years are concerned.

According to the decision of the Supreme Tax Court the offset of losses in case of an upstream merger with the profits of the transferring company accrued during the period of retrospective application was not abusive and in accordance with the legal (tax) provisions in force in the year of dispute (2008).

The Cologne Tax Court held in its decision (10 V 1706/18) published on 15 January 2020, that the wording of Section 8d (1) Sentence 5 of the Act did not contain a cut-off period according to which the application under Section 8d (1) CTA for continuance-bound loss carry-forwards must be filed in the first tax return - and only there.

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