Germany: Taxable Pension Threshold Lower
The taxable pension threshold in Germany has been reduced; tax will be due in 2014 on gross monthly pension income that exceeds EUR 1,225 for single taxpayers, and EUR 2,450 for married couples. This is part of an ongoing reform to progressively
See MoreJoining of Six More Countries with the Tax Information Exchange Pilot of G5
UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy (the G5) planed for a multilateral program in April which was based on the automatic exchange of tax information. Participants of 37 jurisdictions have expressed their intention to join. Luxembourg,
See MoreNew Grand Coalition of Germany Ruled out Tax Rises
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party has finally signed a coalition agreement with the Social Democrats (SPD), in which both parties pledge their commitment to no new debt or tax rises, as well as to
See MoreGermany: Enormous number of Voluntary Tax Declarations
The number of voluntary tax declarations received by the German tax authorities submitted by German residents so far this year is already more than doubles the 2012 total. It has been reported by the business newspaper Handelsblatt based on
See MoreNorway ratifies protocol to tax agreement between Norway and Germany
According to media reports, Norway’s parliament approved a law on December 5, 2013 to ratifying the Protocol to the double taxation agreement signed with
See MoreFrench and Italian FTT has been challenged by the German banks
The financial transactions tax (FTT) presently levied by France and Italy on trading in French and Italian securities need to be banned by the European Commission which is urged by the Leading associations from the German finance industry. They
See MoreGermany: Proposed coalition agreement
The German Conservatives (CDU/CSU) and their ex-opposition party the Social Democrats (SPD) signed a 185 page agreement on the formation of a “grand coalition” on 27 November 2013 which was resulted from five weeks of strong negotiations. The
See MoreTechnical services fees under treaty between India and Germany
It was held by the Agra Bench of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal of India that leather testing charges were taxable as “fees for technical services” under the India-Germany income tax treaty. The treaty allows the source state the right to tax
See MoreGermany – VAT groups
The federal tax court of Germany (Bundesfinanzhof – BFH) has changed its position on the rules for organizational integration of companies into value added tax (VAT) groups. As per the BFH, a consequence of a “merger into a single taxpayer” as
See MoreGermany – Discovering recipients of deductible payments
The federal tax court of Germany (Bundesfinanzhof – BFH) has held that the tax authorities may require taxpayers to identify the recipients of payments that are deducted as businesses expenses. Otherwise, the tax deduction can be
See MoreGermany-Switzerland Tax Deal: SPD Open to stimulating the Agreement
It has been published on 4 November 2013 that, Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) have indicated that the party might be prepared to renegotiate the bilateral tax agreement concluded with Switzerland, aimed at resolving the longstanding issue of
See MoreTreaty between Germany and Luxembourg enters into force
The Income and Capital Tax Treaty between Germany and Luxembourg entered into force on 30 September 2013. The treaty generally applies from 1 January 2014. From this date, the new treaty generally replaces the Income and Capital Tax Treaty
See MoreGermany: Additional administrative burden for VAT reporting for cross-border, intra-EU supplies
A new document has been introduced in Germany that increases the administrative burden with respect to intra-EU supplies (the cross-border transport of goods) within the European Union. Suppliers can apply a value added tax (VAT) rate of 0% for
See MoreGermany: New VAT invoice requirements
Germany has approved a new Act to implement changes to bring German VAT compliance rules into line with the EU VAT Directive and with a number of recent court cases. Under the new Act changes to German VAT invoices include: The obligation to
See MoreGermany: Draft regulation for the profit attribution to PEs issued for public discussion
The draft version of a new Regulation on the attribution of profits to permanent establishments (PE Regulation) has been issued on 5 August 2013 by the German Ministry of Finance for public discussion. The main goal of the PE Regulation is to
See MoreGermany: Effective dates of value-added tax changes
Following the enactment of a new tax law (29 June 2013) in Germany, changes to value added tax are effective on various dates. New invoicing requirements have become effective from 30 June 2013. Changes on VAT exemption with input tax deduction
See MoreGermany: Enactment of Cross-border profit allocation rules
Enactment of legislation regarding cross-border profit allocation was published in the Germany federal law gazette on 29 June 2013. Changes with regard to transfer pricing with the transposition into German tax law of article 7 of the OECD Model
See MoreGermany: Taxation of portfolio dividends; gain, loss on mergers
A new law concerning the taxation of portfolio dividends has been introduced in Germany. Also, some amendments to the tax procedure rules have been proposed. According to the new law, portfolio dividends for shareholdings of less than 10%, measured
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