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A property purchaser is not liable under sec. 14c of the German VAT Act for unduly charging VAT in any lease agreements he has taken over. This was decided by the Federal Fiscal Court in its judgement of 5 December 2024. Contracts can be regarded as invoices if they contain the invoice details required by the VAT law. This can result in unduly charged VAT as stipulated by sec. 14c para. 1 of the German VAT Act. The Federal Fiscal Court´s decision is to be welcomed, as it serves to limit further risk for property buyers. However, it remains to be seen what further effects the decision will have from the perspective of the seller and the tenant.
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Special rules apply in preliminary insolvency proceedings. VAT Law is no exception. If an insolvency debtor receives consideration during the preliminary insolvency proceedings for supplies rendered prior to the beginning of the proceedings, this does not always mean that an estate liability is incurred (which is unfavourable for the insolvency administrator). No estate liability arises if the insolvency debtor’s receivable is discharged through payment by a third-party debtor without the consent or any other involvement on the part of the weak preliminary insolvency administrator. The Federal Fiscal Court confirmed this in its ruling of 29 August, 2024 (V R 17/23). In such cases, the tax office must register its VAT claim in the insolvency schedule.
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The long-awaited German Federal Ministry of Finance circular on fuel card transactions has now been published. It clarifies that the Ministry’s circular dated 15 June 2004 on car leasing transactions also applies to fuel card transactions. The long-running uncertainty following the 2019 ECJ judgment in Vega International on the VAT treatment of chain transactions in fuel deliveries with fuel cards has thus been resolved, at least to some extent. Our newsletter includes background information on exactly what is now regulated and what still needs to be considered.
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