Receive relief from the German tax deduction according to § 50c EStG
Description
Domestic income of foreign artists, athletes, licensors and supervisory board members is subject to limited tax liability. The Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) taxes this income in a tax deduction procedure.
You can apply to the BZSt for relief from German withholding tax. Foreign taxpayers are relieved of the German tax deduction by
- Taxes already paid are reimbursed
or
- with an exemption certificate, the tax deduction will no longer apply in whole or in part in the future.
The following are subject to limited tax liability in Germany:
- Natural persons, if they have neither a domicile nor their habitual abode in Germany and they earn German income.
- Corporations, associations of persons and assets, if they have neither their management nor their registered office in Germany and they generate German income.
Relief from the German tax deduction can only be made if there is a double taxation agreement (DTA) between Germany and your country of residence.
If there is no DTA, you can only avoid possible double taxation by corresponding national regulations in the country of residence.
Applications for relief from tax deduction are processed by the BZSt.
Applications can be submitted:
- foreign artists
- foreign sportsmen and sportsmen and sportsmen
- foreign licensors
- foreign supervisory board members
Other prerequisites:
- in case of refund: payment of withholding tax
There must be a double taxation agreement between Germany and the country of residence.
When applying, you must submit:
- Certificate of residence
- Copy of the contract
- in case of power of attorney: power of attorney
- in cases of refund: the tax certificate issued by the person liable to pay the remuneration
- in cases of reimbursement in which payment to a person other than the remuneration creditor or the applicant is desired: an original collection power of attorney issued by the remuneration creditor
If you are applying for a corporation, association of persons or assets, you must also attach the following documents:
- Excerpt from the commercial register
- Organization chart (with information on percentage shareholdings)
If necessary, the BZSt will request further documents required for the examination.
There are no costs.
for refund applications: within 4 years after the end of the calendar year in which the allowances were received or not before the expiry of 1 year after payment of the tax deductions
- Objection
- Fiscal court action
Forms available: Yes
Written form required: Yes
Informal application possible: No
Personal appearance required: No
Online services available: Yes
You must submit the application electronically via the BZSt online portal (BOP).
- Register in the BOP.
- If you have already registered for another procedure accessible via the BOP or a registration in the Elster online portal, you do not need to register again.
- Select the form "Application for relief from the German tax deduction according to § 50c EStG".
- Fill out the form and submit it.
- Attach a certificate of residence and other required documents to the application form.
- Your application will be processed and examined by the BZSt.
- You will receive a certificate of exemption or a notice of exemption (refund) or a notice of rejection of your application. The decision of the BZSt will also be made available to you via the BOP.
- In the event that an exemption certificate is issued, the remuneration debtor will receive a corresponding notification in the form of a copy of the exemption certificate for his/her files.
- In the case of reimbursement applications, the reimbursement amount will be paid out about 4 weeks after receipt of the exemption notice.
Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF)
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
