Are Voluntary Online Donations Subject to VAT? German Federal Fiscal Court to Decide

• The taxability of voluntary payments (“donations”) to operators of free online offerings is under review by the German Federal Fiscal Court (BFH).
• The Berlin-Brandenburg Fiscal Court ruled that such donations are not subject to VAT, as there is no direct exchange of service for payment and donors receive no special benefits.
• Donations were made without contractual obligation and served as startup funding, not as payment for specific content.
• The court allowed full input tax deduction for the operator, as all expenses related to the economic activity.
• The case is distinguished from other rulings where donations were linked to specific benefits for donors.

Source: umsatz-steuer-beratung.de

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

---

---