Brexit continues to cast a long shadow into the future. Even from a VAT perspective, countless details have yet to be clarified. The German Federal Central Tax Office has therefore published two information letters. One letter is directed at German companies and one is for British companies. These letters contain explanations regarding the special issues to be taken into account when applying for input VAT refunds for 2018 and 2019 in the event of a hard Brexit as of 30 March 2019.

After concluding a so-called gross price agreement, parties sometimes recognise that the supply is VAT-exempt. Normally these kinds of agreements do not allow for the recovery of VAT. On 20.02.2019, the Federal Court of Justice decided that such civil law claims may, sometimes, exist. A case’s chances of success, however, rest on its individual facts. Cases with a chance of success will be those where the views of the tax authorities, applicable at the time the contract was concluded, are subsequently regarded as being incorrect. The Federal Fiscal Court decided, in 2014, that the sale of patient customized cytostatic drugs by a hospital pharmacy, as part of its outpatient hospital treatments, is VAT-exempt.