Tax & Legal

今号では、英国で2025年11月26日に公表された秋季予算案の内容、フランスの電子インボイス受領義務化に関する内容およびドイツの税務関連規定の改正案の内容などについて紹介しています。

In a decision of today the General Court of the EU annuls the decision of EU Commission designating Meta as a gatekeeper as regards Marketplace. At the same time, it maintains Meta’s designation for its interpersonal communications service Messenger.

Under the new Directive on the fight against corruption, more uniform anti-corruption rules will come into force across the EU. The Directive introduces modern rules to improve the prevention, detection, and prosecution of corruption throughout the EU.

On 26 May 2026, the Federal Ministry of Finance (MOF) circulated a draft bill for the Finance Act 2026 to industry associations and invited comments by 12 June 2026. The key legislative changes relevant to businesses are summarised below.

As a rule, parties to a legal proceeding are not entitled to compensation for the excessive length of a fiscal court trial if the parties have agreed to adjourn the court proceedings in light of an appeal already pending before the Supreme Tax Court in a similar case.

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.

Shareholders of a U.S.-based S corporation are eligible for a full refund of the withholding tax on dividends paid by a German-based subsidiary. This was decided by the Supreme Tax Court in a recently published judgment.

The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority has fundamentally revised the “Minimum Requirements for Risk Management” (MaRisk) and, on 1 April 2026, presented the draft of the 9th amendment to these administrative guidelines for public comment.

The gratuitous transfer of a life insurance policy (transfer of contract) is subject to gift tax at the time of the transfer and must be assessed for tax at its surrender value. Any usufruct retained by the donor does not take effect before the life insurance policy is terminated.

Whether a payment made in connection with the sale of a share in a corporation for the selling shareholder’s continued service as managing director is classified as capital gain under Section 17 Income Tax Act or as income from employment shall be determined based on the economic context and motivation, the Supreme Tax Court said in a most recently published decision.

Costs for legal advice and representation in connection with a partition auction for dissolution of a community of heirs are deductible from the total value of the estate. According to the Supreme Tax Court, this also applies if the community of heirs had already assumed management of the estate’s assets prior to a request for distribution by one of the co-heirs.

The Italian trust mandates (of fiduciary arrangements) are subject to EU anti-money laundering transparency rules. According to a decision of the European Court of Justice, public access to beneficial ownership data remains compatible with EU fundamental rights, provided that it is strictly conditioned on proving a legitimate interest.

On 21 May 2026, the Bundestag voted to repeal the increase in the air travel tax that had been implemented in May 2024 at the initiative of the “Traffic Light “ Coalition.

The German Supreme Tax Court (BFH) ruled on 20 May 2026, that the Baden-Württemberg state real property tax law is not unconstitutional, and affirmed the law’s provisions for real property valuation used in property tax calculations starting 1 January 2025.

In a most recent decision, the European Court of Justice held that action on the part of the debtor dating back a number of years and the fact that there is, in the Member State in which the debtor is established, a law capable of hindering the enforcement of the claim concerned may be taken into account in establishing urgency for a European Account Preservation Order.

The Federal Central Tax Office (FCTO) has activated the form “Registration of Crypto-Asset Service Providers (CARF/DAC 8)” on its online portal. Crypto-asset operators who are not already subject to authorization under Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA) can now register with the FCTO.

In three cases from Italy, the European Court of Justice decided that the freezing of funds and economic resources linked indirectly, through trust structures, to persons subject to restrictive measures taken by the European Union in view of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine does not contravene EU law.

In two combined requests for a preliminary ruling from the Berlin-Brandenburg Tax Court, the General Court of the EU decided that the purchase of tobacco products by a private individual in one Member State for the purpose of transferring them free of charge to a third party in another Member State is not eligible for exemption from tobacco tax as being for “personal use”.

Today, the Council presidency and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on two regulations aimed at implementing the tariff-related aspects of the EU-US Joint Statement, agreed on 21 August 2025.

The Berlin-Brandenburg Tax Court decided that maintaining an internet blog is an independent journalistic activity, and that the blogger’s earnings from this activity are taxable as income from self-employment under Section 18 of the Income Tax Act. The case is currently pending before the Supreme Tax Court.