Binding preliminary decision

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A binding preliminary ruling , also known as advance ruling or advance tax ruling (from English to rule = to decide), is binding information from a tax authority towards a legal or natural person regarding their taxation. In Germany there is also talk of binding information .

meaning

With the information, the applicant usually wants to obtain legal certainty for planned investments or restructuring.

The taxpayer explains which facts he intends to realize, which tax law position he represents, formulates certain legal questions and asks for information on how the authority assesses these facts for tax purposes. After examining the legal situation, the tax authorities will provide the taxpayer with written information, to which it is bound for the tax assessment , if the facts subsequently realized do not or only slightly differ from the information on which the information is based.

effect

Binding preliminary rulings have a high priority in international tax competition, especially since all potential locations are competing for investors in a globalized world. From a constitutional point of view, preliminary tax rulings are controversially discussed, most recently in the context of the Luxembourg leaks . In particular, the principle of equal treatment requires that all tax subjects are treated equally before the state. Since preliminary rulings are not publicly available, this - in contrast to tax laws, double taxation agreements or directives that apply to everyone - cannot be verified. From the official side, there is hardly any information on the number or type of rulings. Accordingly, rulings are criticized for being used in an unjustified manner to increase the location advantage.

International distribution

Corresponding regulations can be found in Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium or Singapore, for example.

Reform efforts

European Union

The member states of the European Union currently only exchange very limited information on tax rulings. Each Member State decides at its own discretion whether a decision could be relevant to another Member State. As a result, Member States often do not know that a tax ruling has been issued by another country in the EU that could affect their own tax base. Some companies take advantage of this lack of transparency to cut their tax share.

The European Commission is therefore striving to harmonize national tax systems, in particular with regard to corporate taxation, in order to prevent anti-competitive misuse of tax rulings through legal flight . To this end, a common basis for the assessment of corporate income tax is to be created and the automatic exchange of information between the national tax authorities is to be improved through uniform transparency standards for cross-border tax rulings.

In February 2015 the European Parliament decided to set up a special committee to examine "tax rulings and other measures of a similar nature or effect" in EU countries and to make recommendations for the future.

In October 2015, the EU member states agreed on a directive on the automatic exchange of tax rulings. With the implementation of the directive by the end of 2016, the member states will no longer be able to decide at their own discretion about the content, time and addressee of the information disclosure. The mutual controls made possible in this way should make it more difficult for the tax authorities to offer individual companies preferential tax treatment. The EU hopes that this will result in healthier tax competition.

OECD

In 2014, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) developed an action plan to coordinate international standards for the taxation of corporate income, which the then EU Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Fraud Prevention, Algirdas Šemeta, welcomed. The so-called. BEPS project ( base erosion and profit shifting , dt. Profit reduction and profit shifting) was completed in October, 2015. The specific need for implementation in Germany is currently being examined.

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. Federal Central Tax Office: Advance ruling (binding information) , 2014
  2. City of Zurich, Tax rulings , "If you have any questions about the scope of tax liability, a binding preliminary ruling on the type of taxation can be obtained from the cantonal tax office."
  3. Philip Robinson: More security thanks to Ruling. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . December 5, 2013, accessed November 13, 2014 .
  4. Ordinance for the implementation of Section 89 (2) of the Tax Code (Tax Information Ordinance - StAuskV) of November 30, 2007 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 2783 )
  5. a b Catherine Morf, Andreas Müller, Therese Amstutz: Swiss tax ruling - success model and intrinsic value. Importance and liability for the tax location. ( PDF ) In: The Swiss Trustee . October 2008, p. 818 , accessed November 26, 2014 .
  6. ^ Frank Marty, Christian Frey: Tax location Switzerland: challenges and solutions. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: dossierpolitik. economiesuisse , 3 June 2013, p. 1 , formerly in the original ; Retrieved November 26, 2014 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.economiesuisse.ch  
  7. David Schaffner: What is a ruling please? In: Tages-Anzeiger . September 22, 2014, accessed November 13, 2014 .
  8. Marcello Odermatt: The tax administration in the sights of the left. In: The Bund . February 7, 2014, accessed on November 26, 2014 : “It is especially the SP that is questioning the role of the tax authorities around long-time head of office Bruno Knüsel. The president of the cantonal party, Roland Näf, does not go so far as to accuse the tax administration of aggressively advertising offshore models. But: "The tax administration and the finance director refuse to implement the law."
  9. ^ The Irish Times, EC says Apple's Irish tax deal is illegal state aid
  10. haben service (Dutch tax authority), Advance tax ruling ( memento of the original of November 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.habeningdienst.nl
  11. ^ Belgian Federal Government, Invest in Belgium - Support measures
  12. Singapore Tax Authority , quote: "A tax ruling is a written interpretation of income tax with regard to how certain matters arising from agreements are dealt with for tax purposes."
  13. a b Finance ministers agree on automatic exchange of information on tax rulings , press release of the EU Commission of October 6, 2015
  14. ^ Pierre Moscovici, Margrethe Vestager: For a fair tax law in Europe. Süddeutsche Zeitung of January 17, 2015. Accessed January 17, 2015.
  15. ^ Bastian Brinkmann and Cerstin Gammelin: Fiscal Policy. So Brussels wants to take action against the tax tricks of the corporations. Süddeutsche Zeitung of March 18, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  16. Parliament sets up special committee on alleged tax collusion European Parliament website. Retrieved June 26, 2015
  17. Action plan to combat profit reduction and profit shifting  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. OECD, 2014@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.oecd-ilibrary.org  
  18. Commissioner Šemeta welcomes agreement by the G20 finance ministers on new measures against corporate tax avoidance Press release of the European Commission, September 21, 2014
  19. Federal Ministry of Finance : Questions and answers on the conclusion of the BEPS project ( Memento of the original from November 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 5th October 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bundesfinanzministerium.de