The German Federal Fiscal Court has now issued its final ruling on VAT groups: It has been established that the German VAT group remains in force and that internal supplies between the controlling company and the controlled company are still not subject to VAT. This ruling not only creates legal certainty, but also considerable leeway for legal entities under public law and non-profit organisations.

The VAT exemption for educational services in accordance with sec. 4 no. 21 of the German VAT Act will be revised by the Annual Tax Act 2024 at the turn of the year. The certification procedure will remain in place. However, it will refer to new content, possibly meaning that all providers will urgently need a new certificate. Or perhaps not? The Federal Ministry of Finance has announced that the old certificates will continue to be valid. But can one rely on that? And another point: commercial education providers who were previously entitled to deduct input VAT could now face problems because the VAT exemption would no longer allow for input VAT deduction. Could one solution be simply not to apply for the new certificate?

Recently, the following developments occured in other countries: +++ Estonia increases standard VAT rate +++ Finland increased standard VAT rate +++ Italy updates the split payment list +++ Romania uses pre-filled VAT returns and introduces SAF-T reports +++ Slovakia amends VAT rates +++ Slovenia introduces VAT group and electronic invoices +++ Czech Republic to amend rules for input VAT