Federal Fiscal Court Rules on VAT Exemption for Private Clinics: Criteria and Mixed Outcomes Explained

• Private clinics’ VAT exemption status in Germany has changed over time, with key legal shifts in 2009 and 2021.
• The case reviewed involved a private clinic operating between 2009 and 2021, where doctors used clinic facilities and patients paid fees directly, later seeking reimbursement from private insurance.
• The Federal Fiscal Court ruled that the clinic’s services were not VAT-exempt under EU law, as they were not provided under socially comparable conditions to public hospitals.
• The court emphasized that social comparability requires efficient and cost-effective care, which the clinic met, but other criteria from the ECJ may also apply.

Source: kmlz.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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