Read our insights, reports and more

In its letter on 8 August 2025, the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) clarified the classification of revenue from online event services in cases where services are combined. The VAT Application Decree (AEAO) has been adapted and expanded accordingly. In addition to this specification, the Federal Ministry of Finance has also dealt with when the scope of this provision is to apply. This letter completely replaces the letter dated 29 April 2024.

For companies and creators: Basics, news, opinions and practical tips – always up to date.

The tax authorities have currently got their sights on influencers – will this be followed by a second wave, with the focus moving from the influencers to the companies they collaborate with? Is your company prepared for this second wave and does your influencer marketing comply with tax and social insurance requirements? It can be expected that sponsoring and incentives will again also be closely examined.

The introduction of a Tax Compliance Management System (Tax CMS) is often a complex project. In practice, there are various pitfalls: for example, different priorities, scarce resources and technical hurdles. To successfully master these pitfalls, corresponding experience from comparable projects is required.

On 6 August 2025 the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) sent its draft bill on the German Minimum Tax Amendment Act (MinStAnpG) to the industry associations. The bill contains extensive amendments to the Minimum Tax Act (MinStG; Pillar 2), implements the DAC9 Directive and adds relevant provisions to the Income Tax Act (EStG) and the Foreign Tax Act (AStG). The main points are new rules to prevent avoidance strategies related to global minimum tax, abolishing the royalty deduction limitation rule and changes to the controlled foreign corporation rules.

In an increasingly globalised economy, companies are increasingly turning to outsourcing their international financial processes. The primary focus here is on efficiency gains and the associated cost savings. But it is precisely in the area of tax and compliance outsourcing that the more targeted use of internal resources, risk minimisation and access to specialised expertise are coming to the fore. However, in addition to the opportunities, these international projects also bring with them a multitude of challenges. Recognising and proactively managing these is crucial to the success of the project.

What do the expected future German government’s plans look like for private equity clients, family offices and family businesses? In this briefing, we analyse the coalition agreement to see what tax changes private clients can expect in the new parliament and why it’s crucial to consider business and personal succession now.

In a Circular on 28 June 2024 the Federal Ministry of Finance announced that from 2025 there will be a Germany-wide requirement to report on electronic cash registers. This rule had been suspended until now because of a lack of technical implementation on the level of German Tax Offices. Now that this function has been added to the German online tax return portal www.elster.de, the conditions have now been met for the businesses concerned to fulfil this reporting requirement.

In a landmark judgment dated 3 December 2024, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) opened the door for German-resident beneficiaries of third-country family trusts, family foundations, and similar structures to potentially be exempt from German CFC (Controlled Foreign Corporation) taxation.

On 11 March 2025 the Council reached an agreement on the exchange of information for GloBE Information Returns (GIR) for companies affected by Pillar Two. This is designed to create a Union-wide basis for the automatic exchange of information on GloBE Information Returns. For companies with Pillar Two duties, this means that in future they will be able to file their GIR centrally in only one member state. DAC9 thereby provides a substantial simplifica-tion for multinational and large German groups of companies that fall under the German Mini-mum Tax Act (MinStG).

Operators of digital platforms must submit their report of traders on their platform to the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) by 31 January 2025. Find out what you need to do in this article.

In their 2025 coalition agreement, the CDU, CSU and SPD have reached agreement on a wide range of tax and economic measures. Key elements include investment incentives, tax relief and stimuli to digitise public administration and business. The planned changes affect both companies and private taxpayers. In this article, we summarise the most important points.

Moving abroad may have tax consequences that are often underestimated. When moving to a tax haven or low-tax country, “extended non-resident tax liability” for income tax as well as inheritance and gift tax often goes unrecognised. This is why particular attention should be paid to a recent decision by the German Federal Fiscal Court (BFH). In this article, we shed light on what those moving abroad need to know about the German extended limited tax liability.

Operators of digital platforms must submit their report of traders on their platform to the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) by 31 January 2025. Find out what you need to do in this article.

We present you the recent case law of the Federal Fiscal Court and a regional Fiscal Court on the tax implications of pension obligations.

Tax compliance is more than just a legal obligation – it protects a company and its management from unexpected risks and fines, or even reputational damage. Innovative tools and queries as part of a thoroughly designed TCF can help companies stay on the safe side in the future. In many situations, risks such as bogus self-employment and incentives can be quickly and accurately identified using innovative tools and queries and directly allocated to risk categories to minimize – if not fully mitigate, negative outcomes.