As from 19 December 2006, the German tax authorities have been allowed to charge a fee for granting a tax ruling (see GTLN 11/2006). The fee is assessed based on the tax savings to be expected by the taxpayer in the event of a favorable ruling and is capped at a maximum amount of EUR 91,456. There has been considerable controversy as to whether the fee charged can be justified either in principle and/or in amount, with the majority opinion being that there is insufficient constitutional justification for the fee. The first court case brought before the local tax court of Baden-Württemberg (see GTLN 8/2007) was rejected and an appeal to the BFH settled based on procedural considerations without a substantive decision. However, a new court case with regard to the maximum amount of the fee is now pending before the local tax court of Schleswig-Holstein (case reference 1 k 282/07). Further information on the lawsuit is not publicly available.
While appeals against the assessment of fees for tax rulings based on the local tax court of Baden-Württemberg case will likely be rejected, taxpayers should still be able to successfully file an appeal against the maximum fee assessment for a tax ruling with reference to the pending court case in order to keep the fee assessment open. Although German procedural law does not require the tax authorities to put the appeal on hold because the case is only pending before a local tax court, the local tax authorities of Hamburg have already expressed their view to do so with reference to the pending case. However, it is unlikely that a suspension of payment will be granted by the tax authorities if the appeal is put on hold.
If you have any questions, please contact the authors of this article at gtln@deloitte.de or your regular Deloitte contact.
