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High energy costs are an increasing challenge to many businesses. To mitigate the burden of costs at least partially they can claim tax benefits (tax exemptions, tax relief, etc.) under the German Electricity Tax Act [StromStG] and Energy Tax Act [EnergieStG]. But businesses in difficulty as defined by European state aid law are excluded from this. This also includes some businesses that are actually not in financial straits at all. But a recent court judgement and new practice at the customs authorities means they are now threatened with the loss of these tax benefits.

As of July 1, 2025, the process for determining parental status and the number of children to be considered for the calculation of long-term care insurance contributions has been digital-ized. The German authorities now automatically transmit the relevant data to the contribution-paying entities. Under certain conditions, this procedure also allows for retroactive corrections of long-term care insurance contributions, going back as far as July 1, 2023. What does this mean for you as a company and employer?

Recent legislative changes and upcoming administrative guidance have brought important updates to the (wage) tax treatment of employer-provided benefits, particularly regarding incentives for company cars with alternative engines and reimbursement of electricity costs. In this article, we provide an overview of the current (wage) tax regulations for company cars and outline the differences between lump-sum and itemized reimbursement models for charging electric vehicles. Employers will gain practical insights into how to implement these benefits in a tax-optimised and legally compliant manner.

If the penultimate partner of a limited partnership (KG) leaves the partnership, the partnership assets are transferred to the last partner. As a result of such an "accretion", the question arises as to whether and to what extent the tax losses of the former KG can be used by the last remaining partner. Recently, the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) (ruling of 19 March 2025, XI R 2/23) had to decide on the use of offsettable losses in accordance with Section 15a EStG and trade losses in accordance with Section 10a GewStG by the remaining limited partner - and ruled in favor of the taxpayer.

The ECJ specifies the 25% threshold to determine the social security law to be applied to cross-border work. Find out more now.

The provisional social insurance contribution assessment limits for 2026 have been announced and will now be proposed to the Bundestag. We summarize what employers need to know now.

In its letter on 8 August 2025, the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) clarified the classification of revenue from online event services in cases where services are combined. The VAT Application Decree (AEAO) has been adapted and expanded accordingly. In addition to this specification, the Federal Ministry of Finance has also dealt with when the scope of this provision is to apply. This letter completely replaces the letter dated 29 April 2024.

For companies and creators: Basics, news, opinions and practical tips – always up to date.

The tax authorities have currently got their sights on influencers – will this be followed by a second wave, with the focus moving from the influencers to the companies they collaborate with? Is your company prepared for this second wave and does your influencer marketing comply with tax and social insurance requirements? It can be expected that sponsoring and incentives will again also be closely examined.

The introduction of a Tax Compliance Management System (Tax CMS) is often a complex project. In practice, there are various pitfalls: for example, different priorities, scarce resources and technical hurdles. To successfully master these pitfalls, corresponding experience from comparable projects is required.

On 6 August 2025 the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) sent its draft bill on the German Minimum Tax Amendment Act (MinStAnpG) to the industry associations. The bill contains extensive amendments to the Minimum Tax Act (MinStG; Pillar 2), implements the DAC9 Directive and adds relevant provisions to the Income Tax Act (EStG) and the Foreign Tax Act (AStG). The main points are new rules to prevent avoidance strategies related to global minimum tax, abolishing the royalty deduction limitation rule and changes to the controlled foreign corporation rules.

In an increasingly globalised economy, companies are increasingly turning to outsourcing their international financial processes. The primary focus here is on efficiency gains and the associated cost savings. But it is precisely in the area of tax and compliance outsourcing that the more targeted use of internal resources, risk minimisation and access to specialised expertise are coming to the fore. However, in addition to the opportunities, these international projects also bring with them a multitude of challenges. Recognising and proactively managing these is crucial to the success of the project.

What do the expected future German government’s plans look like for private equity clients, family offices and family businesses? In this briefing, we analyse the coalition agreement to see what tax changes private clients can expect in the new parliament and why it’s crucial to consider business and personal succession now.

In a Circular on 28 June 2024 the Federal Ministry of Finance announced that from 2025 there will be a Germany-wide requirement to report on electronic cash registers. This rule had been suspended until now because of a lack of technical implementation on the level of German Tax Offices. Now that this function has been added to the German online tax return portal www.elster.de, the conditions have now been met for the businesses concerned to fulfil this reporting requirement.

In a landmark judgment dated 3 December 2024, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) opened the door for German-resident beneficiaries of third-country family trusts, family foundations, and similar structures to potentially be exempt from German CFC (Controlled Foreign Corporation) taxation.

On 11 March 2025 the Council reached an agreement on the exchange of information for GloBE Information Returns (GIR) for companies affected by Pillar Two. This is designed to create a Union-wide basis for the automatic exchange of information on GloBE Information Returns. For companies with Pillar Two duties, this means that in future they will be able to file their GIR centrally in only one member state. DAC9 thereby provides a substantial simplifica-tion for multinational and large German groups of companies that fall under the German Mini-mum Tax Act (MinStG).