The April edition includes news on two decisions of the German Constitutional Court, on the EU finance ministers’ agreement on rules of mandatory disclosure for intermediaries and the European Commission’s proposal on new rules for the taxation of the digital economy. Continue reading
Tax & Legal
In a decision on 10 April 2018, the German Constitutional Court concluded that the complaint that the trade tax treatment of gains from the disposal of partnership interests was unconstitutional because it contravened the principle of equality was not justified. Continue reading
On 10 April 2018, the German Constitutional Court pronounced as unconstitutional the provisions on the valuation of property for the purposes of real estate tax and demanded new regulations Continue reading
On 21 March 2018, the European Commission (EC) published its EU digital tax package on the taxation of the digital economy. Continue reading
On 21 March 2018, the European Commission (EC) published its EU digital tax package on the taxation of the digital economy. Continue reading
On 13 March 2018, the ECOFIN Council, composed of the EU-28 Finance Ministers, reached political agreement on a Council Directive amending Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation in relation to reportable cross-border arrangements in order to disclose potentially aggressive tax planning arrangements (also commonly referred to as DAC6).
Courts may not interpret contracts governed by foreign law according to German law. The legal terms used by the contracting parties in the text of the contract are to be given their proper meaning under foreign law. The German courts have to apply the foreign law in the way it would have been interpreted and applied by the courts of the relevant foreign state. Where necessary they must consult an expert for this purpose. Continue reading
The European Court of Justice issued a joint judgment in two cases regarding the Dutch group taxation regime under which a parent company is not allowed to deduct interest in respect of a loan taken from a Swedish related company in order to finance its capital contribution to an Italian subsidiary. This is held to be in conflict with the EU freedom of establishment. On the other hand, the refusal to deduct currency losses resulting from fluctuations in the exchange rate is viewed by the court as being not in violation of EU-law. Continue reading
On 15 February 2018 the European Commission launched a compliance check to assess whether VAT refunds to businesses in EU Member States are made quickly enough and are in line with current EU law and case law of the European Court of Justice. Continue reading
In its decision in Hamamatsu Photonics Deutschland (C-529/16) the European Court of Justice (ECJ) held that Articles 28 to 31 of the Customs Code (old version) must be interpreted as meaning that they do not permit an agreed transaction value, composed of an amount initially invoiced and declared and a flat-rate adjustment made after the end of the accounting period, to form the basis for the customs value, without it being possible to know at the end of the accounting period whether that adjustment would be made up or down. Continue reading