In its letter of 23.04.2018, the Federal Ministry of Finance withdrew the so called “French Fries Decree”. Until very recently, a supplier established somewhere in the Community territory outside Germany could, under certain circumstances, invoice its German customers with German VAT, even where the recipient of the goods was already known at the beginning of the transport in the country of departure. The Federal Ministry of Finance has cited the avoidance of the risk of tax losses as the reason for the change, which applies to all open cases. The Federal Ministry of Finance has granted German customers a transitional period until 31.12.2018 for deducting input tax.
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