Germany: Tax Authorities

The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Portugal's real estate transfer tax on restructurings violates the Capital Duty Directive when applied to share contributions in companies holding real estate. This landmark decision has significant implications for German real estate transfer tax law, where similar provisions exist for share deals involving property-holding companies, potentially rendering certain tax assessments incompatible with EU law.

The Federal Tax Court has issued a landmark ruling on the tax treatment of earn-out payments linked to shareholder-managing directors' continued employment following a share sale. The decision establishes critical criteria for determining whether such payments should be taxed as employment income at rates up to 48% or as capital gains at approximately 28% under the partial income method.

Mit Urteil vom 17.12.2025 (I R 9/23) hat der BFH bestätigt, dass beim (qualifizierten) Anteilstausch nach § 21 UmwStG die Vorbesitzzeiten des übertragenden Rechtsträgers für die Anwendung des gewerbesteuerlichen Schachtelprivilegs (§§ 8 Nr. 5, 9 Nr. 2a GewStG) unberücksichtigt bleiben.

Content creators are increasingly coming under scrutiny by the tax authorities. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the tax authorities recently set up a separate division for criminal tax law.

Content Creator rücken zunehmend in den Fokus der Finanzbehörden. In Nordrhein-Westfalen hat die Steuerfahndung kürzlich eine eigene...

On May 27, 2025, the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued a landmark ruling (Case No. 2 BvR 172/24) concerning the deductibility of start-up losses within intercompany transactions...

The 2024 Annual Tax Draft provides for an extension of the income from employment that is subject to limited income tax liability.

The German tax authorities (GTA) have updated their administrative explanations on Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) providing guidance on how they interpret the APA legislation and operate the German APA Programme.

In its circular of 8 October 2024, Germany's Ministry of Finance (Bundesministerium der Finanzen – BMF) addresses the calculation of the wage tax burden in the case of salary split structures.