• 1000

The state recognises the proclamation mandate of the churches as an expression of religious freedom and cooperates with them in many ways in social and other areas. As a fiscal body and as a member state bound by competition law, it confronts the churches and their written and unwritten subdivisions with an analogous application of the taxation regime for the public sector. In this context, the churches in Germany are also increasingly affected by the paradigm shift in tax enforcement and are coming under the scrutiny of the (German) tax authorities. In view of the exposed position of church institutions in the public eye, reliable fulfilment of tax obligations is necessary. The new regulation on the corporate property of the public sector in § 2b UStG leads to a significant expansion of the tax obligations and to new delimitation issues. Church legal entities should take the aforementioned new regulation as an opportunity to review their range of activities in a timely manner, also with a view to possible errors in income taxes, which may also be affected here. The transition period of the new regulation of § 2b UStG offers a unique opportunity to take stock of and weigh existing and future tax risks and opportunities within the framework of the so-called “tax compliance” but also for tax optimisation, i.e. use of tax design margins, tax reductions and exemptions in the sense of economic efficiency. In addition to the creation of a tax compliance management system, this includes other special tax issues, such as:

  • the assessment of ecumenical cooperations in private legal form under company law or the law of obligations,
  • the restructuring of church facilities and assets,
  • the establishment of foundations,
  • the taxation of welfare facilities or
  • the optimisation of land transactions.

Further Information (PDFs in German only)

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