Tax & Legal

The finance ministry has issued two decrees on the procedures to be followed during 2013, the introductory period for the online administration and reporting of employee wage withholding tax.

The finance ministry has issued a decree on the application to similar cases of a Supreme Tax Court judgment holding that a fraudulent salary increase was not a salary and that the tax office should return the withholding tax paid over without cause.

The finance ministry has announced the arrangements for claiming withholding tax exemption under the EU Parent/Subsidiary Directive on dividends on shares held in the custody of a bank.

The ECJ has held that the withholding tax on a royalty paid to a corporation in another EU country may not be more than the corporation tax rate applied to the income less the directly related costs.

In a case brought by the Commission, the ECJ has held that Germany’s withholding tax on dividends to other corporations is in breach of community law in that it discourages persons from other member states from investing in Germany.

The finance ministry has published the text of a treaty signed with Switzerland to ensure German level withholding tax on investment income, whilst protecting those who choose to move their undeclared funds to a third country. Germany continues  to broadly accept Swiss banking secrecy.

The ECJ has rejected a claim by the Commission that the German withholding tax on gross dividends discriminates against foreign pension funds, because the Commission did not substantiate the expenses excluded from deduction.

The Federal Ministry of Finance has officially clarified in a circular published in April that fees or remunerations paid for the placement of online advertising are not subject to German withholding tax under Section 50a paragraph 1 No. 3 Income Tax Act.

Dividend withholding tax paid by a foreign intermediary company may not be deducted from the taxable income of the local shareholder of a German company if the entire arrangement is abusive and if, therefore, the dividend income is to be allocated to the German shareholder.

The Supreme Tax Court has held that a payment to an Austrian agency for the right to broadcast sporting events is not subject to withholding tax as a payment to the athlete(s) appearing.

The Hamburg Tax Court decided that the withdrawal of the refund or the credit of withholding tax in the wake of cum-ex schemes due to fraudulent misrepresentation is also possible if a third party committed the fraud.

On January 20, 2021, the German Government adopted the draft bill on the modernization of the relief from withholding taxes and the certification of withholding tax paid (“Abzugsteuerentlastungsmodernisierungsgesetz; AbzStEntModG).

In a Bulgarian case the European Court of Justice (ECJ) held that EU law does not preclude national legislation imposing withholding tax on notional market-based interest (mandated under local tax anti-avoidance rules). Such withholding tax cannot be exempt under the regimes of the IRD (EU Interest - Royalty Directive 2003/49/EC) and the PSD (EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive 2011/96/EU) as there have been no actual payments of interest.

The German rules on the procedure and documentation requirements for withholding tax refunds to non-resident portfolio shareholders are not compatible with the EU principles on the free movement of capital, as the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said in a most recent decision.

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.

Foreign companies as shareholders that are eligible for a refund of withholding tax in accordance with Art. 5 of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive are entitled to interest under EU law if the refund of the tax amounts is withheld from them in violation of EU law or if - for the same reason - tax is withheld from the outset. This was decided by the Supreme Tax Court in a recent judgment.

The German anti- treaty shopping rule denying full or partial relief from withholding tax, as otherwise prescribed under a double tax treaty or applicable EU directive, is questioned by the Lower Tax Court of Cologne as being in violation of community law. The question has been referred to the ECJ in number of cases.

The Regional Tax Court of Hesse held that withholding tax levied in Canada on dividends distributed by a Canadian corporation to a German corporation should be credited against German trade tax. The tax authorities have in the meantime launched an appeal against this judgment and the case is now pending before the Supreme Tax Court for final clarification.

On 19 June 2023 the European Commission proposed new rules to make withholding tax procedures in the EU more efficient and secure for investors, financial intermediaries (e.g., banks) and Member State tax administrations. This initiative is aimed to promote fairer taxation, fight tax fraud, and support cross-border investment throughout the EU.

Does the free movement of capital require a Member State to tax non-resident and resident investment vehicles according to the same tax system? This is the question raised in the request for a preliminary ruling submitted to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) by the Portuguese tax court (Tax Arbitration Tribunal). Contrary to the Opinion of the Advocate General the ECJ decided that the withholding tax on dividends paid to non-resident Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities (UCITS) is in violation with current EU Law.