Last Updated on May 31, 2021 by LawEuro
The Fiscal Code of Germany
IV. Costs
Section 178
Costs of making special use of the customs authorities
(1) The authorities of the federal customs administration and the authorities to whom execution of the tasks of the federal customs administration has been transferred may charge fees and demand that expenses are refunded in the case of a special use or service (official act for which fee must be paid).
(2) A special use or service within the meaning of subsection (1) above shall mean, in particular,
1. official acts carried out outside of the place of work and outside of office hours, to the extent that these are not fiscal supervision measures,
2. official acts which make the execution of duties more difficult because, according to the application, they are to be carried out at a specific time,
3. the inspection of goods where
a) this is the result of an application to have binding tariff information issued, or a tax rebate or other privileges granted, or
b) in the course of official inspections, details or objections of the person with power of disposal turn out to be incorrect or unfounded, or
c) the inspected goods do not meet the required standards,
4. monitoring measures in businesses and with regard to transactions, where such measures are in response to contraventions of the ordinances issued to secure the tax revenue,
5. official monitoring and accompaniment of means of transportation or goods,
6. the safekeeping of non-Community goods,
7. the preparation of written documents, electronic documents, transcripts and copies as well as the electronic transmission or printing of electronic documents and other files, if such tasks are performed upon request,
8. the destruction of goods carried out in an official capacity or upon application.
(3) The Federal Ministry of Finance shall be authorised to issue ordinances not requiring the consent of the Bundesrat that specify in detail the official acts for which a fee may be charged, that assess and set flat rates for the costs to be charged on the basis of the average administrative effort such acts require, and that define the conditions under which all or some of these costs may be waived due to negligibility, undue hardship or other similar reasons.
(4) The provisions which apply to excise duties shall apply accordingly to the assessment of the costs. The Administrative Costs Act, in the version in force until 14 August 2013, shall otherwise apply to these costs. Sections 18 to 22 of the Administrative Costs Act, in the version in force until 14 August 2013, shall not apply.
Section 178a
Costs of making special use of the revenue authorities
(1) The Federal Central Tax Office shall charge fees for processing applications for the implementation of a procedure of mutual understanding pursuant to an agreement within the meaning of section 2 with a view to the consensual taxation of as yet unrealised transactions of the taxpayer with related persons within the meaning of section 1 of the Foreign Tax Act or with a view to the future consensual distribution of profits between a domestic enterprise and its foreign permanent establishment or with a view to the future consensual determination of profits of a domestic permanent establishment of a foreign enterprise (advance pricing agreement procedure), which fees shall be determined by the Federal Central Tax Office before the advance pricing agreement procedure is opened. This procedure shall be opened by the first written correspondence sent to the other country. Where an application has as its goal an advance pricing agreement procedure with several states, a fee shall be determined and charged for each procedure. The advanced pricing agreement procedure shall not be opened before the assessment of fees has become incontestable and the fee has been paid; where an application for a lower fee pursuant to subsection (4) below has been made, the decision relating to this must also first be incontestable.
(2) The fee shall be 20,000 euros (basic fee) for each application within the meaning of subsection (1) above; an application of a parent company within the meaning of section 14(1) of the Corporation Tax Act which includes the corresponding transactions of its controlled companies shall be deemed to be one application. Where a person who has already entered a mutual agreement understanding applies for an extension to the period of validity, the fee shall be 15,000 euros (extension fee). Where the applicant amends his application before a decision has been taken on the original application or where he applies for an amendment to the mutual agreement understanding while it is ongoing, an additional fee of 10,000 euros shall be levied for each amendment (amendment fee); this shall not apply where the amendment has been ordered by the Federal Central Tax Office or by the other state.
(3) Where the total value of the transactions covered by the advance pricing agreement procedure are not likely to exceed the amounts given in section 6(2), first sentence, of the Ordinance of 13 November 2003 on Recording Profit Allocations (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 2296), the basic fee shall be 10,000 euros, the extension fee 7,500 euros and the amendment fee 5,000 euros.
(4) The Federal Central Tax Office may reduce the fees under subsection (2) or (3) above upon application where their payment means unreasonable hardship for the taxpayer and the Federal Central Tax Office determines that the revenue authorities have a particular interest in the implementation of the advance pricing agreement procedure. The application shall be submitted before the advance pricing agreement procedure is opened; any application submitted at a later stage shall not be permissible.
(5) Where the application is withdrawn or rejected, or where the advance pricing agreement procedure fails, the incontestable fee set shall not be refunded.
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