VAT Exemption for Aesthetic Treatments

• The German tax authority has issued new guidance on VAT exemption for cosmetic and aesthetic treatments, adopting recent Federal Fiscal Court case law into the VAT application decree.
• Aesthetic procedures are generally VAT taxable unless they are medically necessary to treat a disease, injury, congenital defect, or to remedy consequences of a prior medically indicated treatment.
• To qualify for exemption, a qualified medical certificate is required, and the provider must document the medical indication for each patient.
• Purely cosmetic treatments without therapeutic purpose remain subject to VAT; lack of insurance coverage may be an indication of non-medical treatment.
• Doctors, clinics, and other providers of aesthetic procedures should update their processes to meet the tax administration’s documentation requirements.

Source: ebnerstolz.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.

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