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Warranty commitments are a common instrument used in sales promotion. Since they are on the borderline between VAT and insurance tax, they are also a hot topic from a tax perspective. In particular, warranty commitments in the car trade have become well-known, due to the Federal Fiscal Court having taken a number of decisions in this area in recent years. In addition, the Federal Central Tax Office, which is responsible for insurance tax, has also taken a special interest in cases concerning warranty commitments as a field of examination. Uncertainty has therefore been considerable over the last few years. The Federal Ministry of Finance has now taken up the issue and assessed it from both a VAT and an insurance tax perspective.
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The Federal Fiscal Court decided that, in 2006, an investment company could not claim input VAT deduction from certain services which it had procured for its activities as the manager of a real estate investment fund. More precisely, this concerns services, the costs of which are charged by the investment company to the investment fund without a profit mark-up. Based on this decision, it is likely that the tax authorities will reject the input VAT deductions of capital management companies in similar constellations.
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In a notification dated 3 May 2021, the Federal Ministry of Finance extended the applicability of the VAT exemption for the turnover of trading platforms for cryptocurrencies. From now on, in addition to centralised exchanges (CEX), decentralised exchanges (DEX) can also apply for the VAT exemption for financial services in accordance with Sec. 4 No. 8 German VAT Act. Fortunately, it has now been clarified that IT services related to the exempt supplies are also VAT-exempt. Those affected will be required to shortly adjust their accounting systems. However, VAT refunds for the past could also result. The notification is therefore important for all crypto trading platforms.
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