Latest VAT News
Here, we regularly inform you about new court decisions and other newsworthy developments in VAT matters.
Energy sector: Adaptation of the guidelines to the jurisdiction
25 April 2025
In its letter dated 31 March 2025, the Federal Ministry of Finance changes the administrative opinion on the VAT treatment of some significant transactions in the energy sector and adapts to the recent case law of the Federal Fiscal Court. We summarise the most important points.
Coalition agreement: Reduced VAT rate in the gastronomy sector
10 April 2025
The German parties CDU, CSU and SPD have agreed that the VAT rate for food in the gastronomy sector will be permanently reduced to 7% from 1 January 2026. We summarise what needs to be considered here.
ECJ on the sale of private property by spouses
In its ruling of 3 April 2025 (C-213/24), the ECJ ruled that the sale of real estate that was originally held as private property can, under certain circumstances, constitute an economic activity. Depending on the civil law relationship, the community of spouses may be the taxable person.
Circular letter dated 18 March 2025 on SMEs
7 April 2025
Due to an EU directive, national regulations for small and medium-sized entities (SME) had to be adapted by the Member States. Essentially, this involves making them accessible to non-EU entrepreneurs. This involves some significant changes that may also be of interest to entrepreneurs with higher turnover.
BFH on the deductibility of insolvency administrator costs
2 April 2025
In the two decisions XI R 8/22 and XI R 20/22, published on 27 March 2025, the BFH (Federal Fiscal Court in Germany) explained how the continuation or discontinuation of a business in insolvency proceedings affects the insolvency debtor's input VAT deduction from the insolvency administrator's costs.
Recommendations for a successful ViDA implementation
25 March 2025
The fight against VAT fraud cannot be won with data and technology alone. Both must be embedded in a cooperative compliance process based on trust between the taxable person and the tax authorities. On this basis, the VAT expert group has developed ideas on how to proceed after the introduction of ViDA.
CBAM simplifications
25 March 2025
Since 1 October 2023, a transitional phase has been in effect, in which EU companies must issue quarterly reports on imports of CO2-polluting goods, such as iron, steel, cement, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen, as well as selected precursors and downstream products. From 2026, things will get serious and payments will have to be made. The bureaucratic burden for companies is huge.
The future of VAT: Eliminating weaknesses
19 March 2025
In its report "VAT after ViDA – Reflections on the Future of VAT”, the VAT expert group has made proposals for a new system, which we have presented in an earlier client information. The report also contains ideas for eliminating specific weaknesses in the existing regulations, which we summarise below.
Federal Central Office for Taxes may not refuse input VAT deduction from final invoices
19 March 2025
In its ruling of 12 December 2024, published on 13 March 2025 (V R 6/23), the Federal Fiscal Court strengthened the rights of the taxable person in the input VAT refund procedure in the event that advance payment invoices were not included in the list of invoices to be attached. However, certain conditions must be observed.