Germany MOF Releases Court Decision Clarifying Withholding Taxes on Technology Transfer Agreement

The German Ministry of Finance April 14 released Tax Court Decision No. IR 18/18, explaining withholding taxes for payments made under technology transfer agreements. A German limited liability company concluded an exclusive technology transfer agreement with a manufacturing company, under Hungarian law. The contract was terminated due to poor quality, and no taxes were withheld by the German company on the payments made. After an audit, the tax office assessed withholding taxes on the German company under corporate income tax law. The tax court explained that: 1) the German company should’ve withheld, reported, and paid withholding taxes for the payments ...