A foreign permanent establishment of a legally independent person resident in Germany cannot be viewed as employer. This was decided by the Supreme Tax Court in a recent judgment regarding the double tax treaties with the Netherlands, Japan, the UK, Spain, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Canada, Singapore, Norway, Greece and France.
The Supreme Tax Court has held that an employer’s pension fund contribution paid on behalf of an employee is not taxable merely because it was described as a payment on behalf of the employee.
