The Supreme Tax Court has asked the European Court of Justice for clarification as to whether telephone advisory services provided by a company on behalf of state health insurance funds through so-called “health coaches” may be free from VAT. Continue reading
Tax & Legal
The European Court of Justice will have to decide once again on the justification of the non-deductibility of ‘final losses’ in the foreseeable future. In two Swedish cases the Advocate General has formulated her opinion and is not convinced of a “finality” or cross-border loss utilisation due to the particularities of the cases. Continue reading
Only 70 per cent of the costs incurred by a film production company for meals and drinks distributed free of charge to the persons employed at the film location for the production of the recordings can be deducted as business expenses, provided that the meals and drinks are also distributed to those persons who are not employees of the company itself, but who, for example, participate in the production of the set as employees of the participating television stations. Continue reading
Two decisions of the Baden-Württemberg Tax Court have been published in connection with the attribution of foreign passive income for trade tax purposes. In these decisions the Court also raises doubts as to whether the add-back of this type of foreign income is compatible with EU law. Continue reading
In its judgement of 16 January 2019, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) held that the information required by the customs authorities from legal persons applying for authorised economic status (AEO) under the Union Customs Code – in particular the tax identification numbers and the name of the responsible tax offices of certain employees of the applicant – was lawful within the ambit of Directive 95/46/EC and Regulation (EU) 2016/679 governing the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. The gathering of information was limited, however, to information on individuals who were in charge of the applicant, or who exercised control over its management and to those who were in charge of the applicant’s customs matters. Continue reading
Section 50d (9) Income Tax Act (ITA) excludes a tax exemption in Germany under a double tax treaty where, inter alia, the income is not taxed in the other treaty state. In a decision of the Supreme Tax Court published on 19 December 2018, the Court held that the term “income” in this context applied to both positive and negative income. Thus, provided that the other conditions set out in Section 50d (9) have been met, losses, which were originally excluded as tax-free treaty income, could, be deducted from domestic taxable income, regardless of the treaty. Continue reading
Back in June 2017 we informed you of the Supreme Tax Court’s referral to the European Court of Justice of the question as to whether the RETT exemption on conversions(Section 6a Real Estate Transfer Tax Act) constitutes illicit State Aid. On 19 December 2018, the European Court of Justice held in A-Brauerei (C-374/17) that the RETT exemption granted in the case before it of an upstream merger did not infringe the State Aid rules. Continue reading
With news from the finance ministry, tax court cases and from Europe. Continue reading
On 13 December 2018 the Federal Ministry of Finance published a draft bill for the enactment of tax and other regulations for Brexit (“Brexit Bill”)designed to alleviate certain legal consequences arising by reason of Brexit alone.
Effective date Continue reading
On 8 November 2018, the Finance Bill 2018 was adopted by the German parliament and received the consent of the Bundesrat on 23 November 2018 in the form of “The Act for the Avoidance of VAT Losses on the Trading of Goods on the Internet and Amendments to other Tax Regulations”(hereafter “Finance Act 2018”). This article sets out a selection of the new regulations. Continue reading