Publications
6. July 2026
FYB Financial Yearbook Germany 2022
According to the explanatory memorandum to the Act, the primary objective of the Fund Jurisdiction Act was to improve Germany‘s international competitiveness as a location for employee share ownerships, particularly with regard to start-ups. In addition, the disadvantage for Germany as a fund location, caused by VAT levying on the administrative services of venture capital funds, was to be eliminated as well. Almost unnoticed and shortly before its adoption by the Bundesrat, a significant improvement in the so-called extended trade tax reduction for real estate companies also found its way into the law. This article will briefly introduce the latter two topics with a view to practical applications.
6. July 2026
FYB Financial Yearbook Germany 2021
In FYB 2018 we reported on current focal points in company tax audits. A lot has happened since then, not only in terms of case law, but also in legislation. Some of the keywords here would be “ATAD” and “DAC6”, whose impacts will certainly be noticeable far beyond the turn of the year 2020 / 2021. In this contribution, we will once again present some current topics from our real estate practice and recommend some actions, if possible. We had to make a selection, of course, so that other perennial issues such as the temporary reduction of the value added tax needed to be left out for lack of space.
6. July 2026
FYB Financial Yearbook Germany 2020
The initiation of criminal tax proceedings by German tax offices, mostly as a result of innocent mistakes, according to the motto „shoot first, ask questions later“, is by now common practice, which some managing directors have already painfully experienced at first hand. The core question here is usually the demarcation between simple error correction on the one hand and (actually undesirable) punitive voluntary declaration on the other.
6. July 2026
FYB Financial Yearbook Germany 2019
German tax law is in a constant state of flux; after months of coalition negotiations, the government is functioning once again, and 2018 sees another Annual Tax Act. It focusses, once again, on share deals in terms of both the land transfer tax and income tax. Key topics such as the appropriate rate of interest on shareholder loans (keywords: general group recourse), or the repayment of contributions from non-EU countries, have gained in momentum. In the area of the recognition of liquidation losses from equity investments held in private assets and losses from loans, the rulings of the German Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) show a positive trend. At the moment, there is also hope that the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) will change its mind in the area of commercial infection. This article aims to highlight the key developments and their practical relevance.
6. July 2026
FYB Financial Yearbook Germany 2018
The management of single real estate properties through to extensive real estate portfolios is certainly a challenging task, and one which becomes more complex when taxation guidelines are to be taken into consideration. In addition to other factors, the recent administrative decree of the German Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) concerning the differentiation between mere amendments of incorrect tax returns and a voluntary self-disclosure to the tax authorities of false or incomplete tax declarations in case of tax fraud, has seen tax compliance once again become the focus of all participants. Tax practice has shown that pitfalls are to be found in several places, and that the best tax-structure memo cannot provide any guarantee for a life without tax worries if circumstances change later or new circumstances arise, or the original legal or tax guidelines are not carried out properly.
23. February 2026
UPDATE-REAL ESTATE Refund of real estate tax – Mind the filing deadline 31st March!
Rental losses due to vacancies reduce the return on any property investment. In the current economic downturn, vacancies are a very real possibility. In addition to the already painful rental losses, the owner is also fully responsible for the operating costs that would otherwise be chargeable. In addition, rising levy rates in cities and municipalities are making property tax an increasingly significant cost factor for both tenants and landlords, particularly in the case of vacancies.
