- From 01.01.2024, payment service providers in Germany must comply with special reporting obligations under sec. 22g of the German VAT Act. They are required to record and report specific information related to cross-border payment services to the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt). The data is collected in a Central Electronic System of Payment information (CESOP). The German Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) has provided further explanations on the application of the regulation in a letter dated 28 December 2023.
- The BMF’s letter clarifies the scope of application, referencing the CESOP guidelines published by the EU Commission and the BZSt communication manual. It states that the reporting obligations apply to credit institutions, E-money institutions, payment institutions, and post-office giro institutions based in an EU or EEA State providing payment services in Germany. The obligations cover payment transactions, acquiring of payment transactions, and money remittance, including E-money vouchers. However, payments made in crypto values are not included.
- The reporting duty applies to cross-border payments from a payer in a Member State to a payee in another state, based on the IBAN or other identifier indicating the identity and location of the payer or payee. The reporting obligation is triggered if a payment service provider executes more than 25 cross-border payments to the same payee in a calendar quarter. The BMF also provides guidance on aggregating payments and identifiers, as well as the treatment of refunds.
- The BMF also addresses the information to be transmitted and the penalties for non-compliance. It emphasizes that the existence and accuracy of the data is determined by the information available to the payment service provider, and investigations are not required.
- The deadline for reporting the first calendar quarter of 2024 has been extended, and the recorded data must be transmitted to the BZSt in accordance with the officially required data set by the end of the specified deadline.
Source KMLZ
