Insurance tax (Germany)
In addition to the official form of the tax authorities ( IPT ) is the form of joint-s ( insurance s tax ) in use, but in professional circles not common.
The insurance tax is a transaction tax . Premium or contribution payments from insurance contracts are taxed. The annual income from insurance tax amounts to a little over 10 billion euros and thus makes up over 4% of the federal tax revenue. The legal basis is the Insurance Tax Act .
Exceptions
Contributions to statutory and private life and health insurance , statutory unemployment insurance , occupational and disability insurance, reinsurance and small livestock insurance ( sum insured up to € 4,000) are exempt from tax liability . Also excluded according to § 4 No. 10 VersStG insurance of transported goods against loss or damage as transport goods insurance including security insurance and war risk insurance, if the insurance relates to goods that are exclusively transported abroad or in cross-border traffic including transit; this does not apply to the transport of goods between domestic locations where the goods are only used abroad for transit. The taxation of the payment of the insurance premium for liability insurance remains unaffected. Furthermore, all contributions and premiums from all insurance contracts are excluded, provided they are concluded with foreign embassies or their relatives including consular representatives, provided they are foreigners.
Elevation
The insurance tax is a federal tax that was levied by the federal states until June 30, 2010. Since then, the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) has been centrally responsible ( Section 5 (1) No. 25 FVG). The tax is paid by the insurance company for the policyholder . The assessment basis for the tax is the annual remuneration (contribution or premium). The exception is hail insurance, here based on the sum insured.
Most countries around the world have an insurance tax or similar levy on insurance premiums. The tax is based on the risk opportunity principle, so that even a German insurer would have to levy Italian insurance tax if the risk were there.
Tax rates
| Type of insurance ( § 4 , 5, 6 VersStG) | Tax rate as of July 1, 2010 |
Tax rate 2006 |
|---|---|---|
| General tax rate | 19.00% | 16.00% |
| Fire and FBU insurance | 13.20% | 11.00% |
| Fire insurance | 13.20% | |
| Buildings insurance with fire component | 16.34% | 14.75% |
| Building insurance without fire component | 19.00% | |
| Household insurance | 19.00% | 15.00% |
| Contents insurance with fire component | 16.15% | |
| Property insurance without fire | 19.00% | |
| Accident insurance | 19.00% | |
| Accident insurance with premium refund | 3.80% | 3.20% |
| Health insurance | 0.00% | |
| Life insurance | 0.00% | |
| Pension insurance | 0.00% | |
| Hail insurance | 0.03% of the sum insured | |
| Marine hull insurance | 3.00% | 2.00% |
Development of the standard tax rate over time
| Period | % of the insurance premium | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 1937 to 1988 | 5% | |
| From 01/01/1989 | 7% | |
| From July 1st, 1991 | 10% | Increase under the Solidarity Act |
| From July 1st, 1993 | 12% | |
| From 01/01/1995 | 15% | |
| From 01/01/2002 | 16% | Counter-Terrorism Financing Act (2001) as a result of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center |
| From 01/01/2007 | 19% | Increase in accordance with the Household Supplementary Act 2006 |
Come up
The insurance tax brought the state annual income of more than € 10 billion between 2009 and 2011.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Statistics on tax revenue. Federal Statistical Office , accessed on April 12, 2013 .
