| 【明通編輯黃友香/香港報導】
FRANKFURT,GERMANY--(Marketwire-December9,2011)Meantimewire-BenefitaxGermancharteredaccountantsinFrankfurtamMain, advisesinvestorstoexaminetheGermantaxsystemintensivelyandinati melymanner.Otherwiseunpleasantsurprisesawait.Thetaxratesoncorporateprofitsareapproximately30% inmajorcentersandsomewhatlessinruralareas.Sincethetaxratesarelowerinmanycountries,theGermantaxauthoritiesverifythatthep rofitoftheGermansubsidiaryhasnotbeenreducedthroughmeasuresinternaltothecompany. Lossescanbecarriedforwardforanunlimitedtimeandlossset-offswithothergroupcompaniesaresometimespossible.Withholdingtaxof26.4%isusuallydeductedfromdistributionstoshareholders.ForEUparentcompaniesorviadoubletaxationtreaties,withholdingtaxcanbered ucedtoaslowaszeropercent.Anapplicationforexemptionshouldbesubmittedseveralmonthsbeforethedistribution. Internationaltaxplanningcandrasticallyreducethegroup'scorporatetaxrate.AccordingtoBenefitaxpartnerOliverBiernat,themostco mmonmodelsarethesubstitutionofdividendswithloaninterest,royaltiesorfees,ortheuseofforeignholdingcompanies.Forthelatter,us ingaholdingcompanywithoutsubstancewhichmerelyconsistsofamailboxinataxhavenmustbeavoidedsincethosearenotrecognizedb ytheGermantaxauthorities. Analternativeisthedefinitionoftransferpricesforintragroupdeliveriesandservices.ThelargertheGermancompanyis,thestricterthere quirementsfordocumentationoftransferpricesandproofthattheycorrespondtowhatwouldhavebeennegotiatedwiththirdparties(dealingatarms'length). Ifadequatetransferpricedocumentationisnotprovidedwithin30or60daysfromthedatethefiscalauthoritiesm akearequest,theycanmake(high)estimates.Thenthetaxpayerisforcedtopayunlessproofofadifferenttransferpricecanbeprovided. TaxexpertBiernatthereforehasthisadvice:"PreparetransferpricedocumentationthatmeetstheGermanregulations.Inthiscase,thefis calauthoritieshavetoprovethatthechosentransferpriceisincorrect.Thisisaneffortthefiscalauthoritieswillhesitatetomakeandonlyun dertakewhenlargesumsareinvolve d." VAT,unknowninmanycountries,isaccountingforanever-growingproportionoftaxrevenuesinGermany.TheregularVATrateis19%.Errors,e.g.whenissuinginvoices,cangetverycostly.While GermanVATlawislargelyharmonizedwithEuropeanlaw,itisverynontransparentanderror-proneduetoamendments,numerousexceptionsandcomplicated,detailedrules. Formoreinformationandtoorderour"LawandTaxGuide",visit: www.benefitax.com. BenefitaxisataxconsultingandpublicauditcompanyinFrankfurt,Germany,focussingonfinancialadministrationofforeignownedGerm anentitiesandinternationaltaxation. ContactInformation Contact: BenefitaxGmbH Attn.Mr.OliverBiernat ManagingPartner Phone:+49(0)69-25622760 E-Mail:.biernat@benefitax.com">o.biernat@benefitax.com Internet:www.benefitax.com |
