Germany: Revision of coordinated decree of federal states on trade tax add-backs
Decree amended in response to four judgments of the German Federal Tax Court
Decree amended in response to four judgments of the German Federal Tax Court
In a coordinated decree of 2 July 2012, the highest tax authorities of the German federal states commented on trade tax add-backs. The decree was amended on 6 April 2022 in response to four judgments of the German Federal Tax Court issued in the interim.
The amendments concern:
- No add-back when expenses are activated
- Existence of notional fixed assets
The amendments are to be applied to all cases still open under procedural law.
Background
According to German tax law, every business entity operated domestically is subject to trade tax. Trade tax is assessed on the basis of profit for trade tax purposes, which is initially determined according to the provisions of the German Income Tax Act or Corporation Tax Act, depending on the legal form of the business operation. For trade tax purposes, however, this profit is increased in a second step by certain add-backs. For example, part of the rental and lease expenses for moveable and immovable fixed assets is added back to profit.
Read a May 2022 report [PDF 338 KB] prepared by the KPMG member firm in Germany
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