Tax & Legal

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.

In a current circular the Federal Ministry of Finance (MoF) stated that it does not follow a judgment of the Supreme Tax Court on the requirements for the combination of business operations of public bodies with regard to Section 4 (6) sentence 1 Corporation Tax Act.

In its judgment today the European Court of Justice held that current EU-law contravenes a national legislation or a national practice which excludes the possibility for a tenderer who has been unlawfully excluded from a procedure for the award of a public contract to be compensated for the loss suffered because of the loss of the opportunity to participate in that procedure with the intention to obtain the contract concerned.

The Federal Finance Ministry issued a decree dealing with the Value Added Tax situation for the public sector as revised in the course of the Tax Amendment Act 2015.