Corporations with at least a 25% share in a Société d'investissement à capital variable (SICAV), a Luxembourg investment company, do not have to pay income tax in Germany on the dividends received from the SICAV in 2010. This also applies if the Luxembourg tax authorities – for whatever reason - did not exercise their right of taxation at source and the distributions hence remained untaxed.
The Düsseldorf Tax Court has decided that a so-called bond stripping model involving a partnership limited by shares (KGaA) as a shareholder in a Luxembourg Société d’Investissement à Capital Variable (SICAV) constitutes an abuse of legal form under Section 42 of the German General Tax Code (Abgabenordnung). Does this really mark the end of the legal proceedings that have been ongoing since 2018?
The Supreme Tax Court reversed three earlier rulings of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Tax Court and decided that Sweden has no right of taxation, even if at the time of the gift the gift tax had been abolished in Sweden (here: as of 1 January 2005). As a result, a gift made by a donor who has his residence both in Germany and Sweden is subject to the provisions of the German Inheritance and Gift Tax Act.
The finance ministry has published a decree asking tax offices to reject brokered bond stripping schemes between German and Luxembourg investment funds abusing the treaty protection of dividends.
In a resolution regarding the request for suspension of payment the Supreme Tax Court endorsed the different VAT treatment of terrestrial (physical) gambling versus VAT exempt online gambling. Furthermore, the court held that this unequal treatment is not contrary to the EU principles of fiscal neutrality.
On 13 February 2026, the Federal Ministry of Finance (MoF) sent a comprehensive draft circular on the principles applied by the tax administration regarding the concept of a permanent establishment and the establishment of a permanent establishment in domestic and international tax law to interested associations for comment by 13 March 2026. The circular aims to systematically present the factual requirements for a permanent establishment under Section 12 of the General Tax Code (GTC) that are relevant for the application of numerous income tax regulations and to clarify the relationship to the concept of a permanent establishment under treaty law in accordance with Article 5 of the OECD Model Tax Convention. The circular takes comprehensive account of the current case law of the Supreme T ...
On 19 November 2025, the OECD published an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention and the corresponding commentary on Article 5 regarding permanent establishments. The new guidelines specify the circumstances under which a home office is considered as permanent establishment.
The Baden-Württemberg Tax Court decided that maintaining a double household cannot be justified in the absence of a permanent residence at the out-of-town work location if the employee lives in a motorhome there during the week but regularly returns to his family home in the motorhome on weekends.
In a most recently published decision, the Supreme Tax Court held that a disability compensation received by a former member of the U.S. Armed Forces for an injury suffered in the line of duty is tax-exempt under Section 3 No. 6 Income Tax Act.
The change in the shareholder structure of a limited property-owning partnership due to a contribution of the limited partners' shares in the partnership to a shelf-company may be exempt from real estate transfer tax pursuant to Section 6a sentence 1 RETT Act provided that the transferor, i. a., held at least 95% of the shares directly or indirectly or partly directly for an uninterrupted period of five years before the legal transaction took place. This was decided by the Supreme Tax Court in a most recent judgment.
In a most recent decision, the Supreme Tax Court held that payments for granting cable retransmission rights may be added back for trade tax purposes pursuant to Section 8 No. 1 (f) of the German Trade Tax Act.
A signing bonus which is paid by a soccer club to a professional player upon the conclusion of an employment contract may be capitalized as part of the acquisition cost for the exclusive playing rights (i. e., the one-off payment made to a player upon signing a contract with a new club) if the club is required to pay a transfer fee for the player’s change of club.
Regarding the redemption of so-called gold warrants, the Supreme Tax Court decided that taxation as „other claims from capital investments“ within the meaning of Section 20 (1) No. 7 Income Tax Act cannot be ruled out on grounds that the holder of the capital claim has the right to demand fulfillment by means other than cash. If the holder exercises this option, the transaction constitutes a taxable redemption and is treated as income from capital investment.
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.
The Supreme Tax Court ruled that free or subsidized accommodation and meals provided by the employer in connection with preventive health services are generally not tax-exempt under Section 3 No. 34 German Income Tax Act.
The Federal Ministry of Finance (MoF) has revised its guidelines regarding the exchange of information and the associated external audit titled “instruction sheet on cross-border audit cooperation with tax administrations of other countries and territories: joint and simultaneous audits and presence of officials”.
In a most recent decision, the Supreme Tax Court held that foreign currency losses on shareholder receivables similar to loans do not reduce the taxable income of the corporation. This was decided by the Supreme Tax Court in its interpretation of Section 8b (3) Corporation Tax Act as valid in 2014 and which deals with investments in other corporations and the non-deductibility of losses in connection with certain shareholder loans.
In a most recent decision, the Supreme Tax Court held that profits from special compensation for the general partner of a limited partnership pursuant to Section 5a (4a) sentence 3 Income Tax Act attributable to the period following the cessation of the commercial and promotional activity of a partnership are not part of the trading profit subject to trade tax.
According to a ruling of the Supreme Tax Court the sole criterion for claiming the banking privilege for trade tax purposes is that the assets from banking transactions and the purchase of monetary receivables outweigh the assets from other business activities. With its decision the court thus keeps to the strict wording of the relevant statute.
On 6 June 2023 the EU-Council and the EU-Parliament have reached a provisional political agreement on the directive concerning financial services contracts concluded at a distance. The agreed text simplifies existing legislation, increases consumer protection, and creates a level playing field for financial services concluded online, via telephone or through other forms of remote marketing.
