BFH: No reduction in the assessment basis for cross-border pharmacy discounts

An entrepreneur cannot claim a tax reduction for a tax-free intra-Community delivery made in another Member State.

Background

In the Company Z case , the ECJ ruled that a correction of the assessment basis is out of the question if an online pharmacy based in another Member State sends medicinal products to people with statutory health insurance and grants them discounts (ECJ, judgment of March 11, 2021, C -802/19, company Z). Since the foreign mail-order pharmacy carried out tax-free intra-Community deliveries in another member state, it did not have an adjustable assessment base in Germany.

With its successor decision, the BFH joins the ECJ and denies the correctability of the assessment basis.

Source Deloitte

See also ECJ C-802/19 (Firma Z) – Judgment – Adjustments of taxable amount; domestic and intra-Community supplies of medicinal products; discounts under health insurance scheme