The Federal Tax Court (BFH) on December 5, 2024, held (V R 16/22) that a taxpayer can only be held liable for an incorrect tax statement in an invoice in accordance with sec. 14c para. 1 sentence 1 UStG if they contributed to the creation of the invoice or issued the invoice. Thus, an incorrect tax statement caused by a previous owner cannot be attributed to a purchaser of the property in accordance with Section 566 (1) BGB.
Read a聽聽prepared by the 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 member firm in Germany
Other recent value added tax (VAT) developments that may affect businesses in Germany include:
- The BFH held that if a timely input VAT refund application does not include advance payment invoices that were issued during the refund period and which entitle the taxable person to deduct input VAT, but only contains details of the corresponding final invoices, input VAT can still be refunded from the advance payment invoices (December 12, 2024 decision 鈥� V R 6/23).
- The Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) issued guidance regarding supplies of goods for equipping or maintaining a means of transport to private customers (March 12, 2025 letter - III C 3 - S 7133/00043/001/076).
- The BMF issued guidance regarding the special regulation for small enterprises (March 18, 2025 letter - III C 3 - S 7360/00027/044/105).