No pleasure goes untaxed. This also applies to the upcoming 2024 European Football Championship. Business transactions related to the Championship must be correctly assessed under VAT law so that the hoped-for summer fairy tale in Germany does not turn into a VAT nightmare.

Practical and positive developments: In a letter dated 17 May 2024, the tax authorities commented on the allocation of supplies to the economic sphere, as well as on documentation and the documentation deadline for the allocation decision with regard to the current ECJ and German Federal Fiscal Court jurisprudence. According to this, it is sufficient if the tax authorities are informed of objectively recognisable evidence, even after the documentation deadline (standard submission deadline for tax returns) has expired. However, this should be understood as a mere ‘stopgap’ if the documentation deadline has already been missed. The clear recommendation remains: The tax authorities should be informed about the allocation decision, in writing, prior to the expiry of the deadline.

In its recently published decision of 22 November 2023, the Federal Fiscal Court ruled that, contrary to the opinion of the tax authorities, a chain transaction is also deemed to exist in the case of ‘broken’ deliveries. The decision relates to the legal situation up to 2019 but should also be applicable by analogy to the current legal situation. Companies are certainly well advised to continue to comply with the German VAT Act and the German VAT Circular. In the event of a dispute, however, the Federal Fiscal Court's findings may prove very helpful.