- The BMF issued a letter on July 8, 2025, detailing legal changes due to the Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act and the German Annual Tax Act 2024.
- The retention period for invoices under Section 14b UStG is reduced from ten to eight years.
- This change applies to invoices whose retention period has not expired by December 31, 2024.
- For financial institutions, the change applies to invoices whose retention period has not expired by January 1, 2026.
- Section 26a UStG is amended to align with the new retention period.
- Retention periods do not expire if documents are relevant for taxes with an unexpired assessment period.
- Retention periods for VAT records remain at ten years.
- The German Annual Tax Act 2024 amends Section 14c UStG regarding credit notes.
- A person may owe incorrectly reported VAT if shown in a credit note to a non-trader.
- Liability for tax shown in a credit note applies if not immediately objected to, even if not an entrepreneur.
- Entrepreneurs are liable for tax shown in a credit note for services they are not entitled to show tax for.
Source: hub.kpmg.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.
