General Information
The documents on this website provide information about German legislation relating to external tax relations, especially transfer pricing. For a comprehensive overview of the German tax system, please refer to the Finance Ministry brochure An ABC of Taxes .
Please note that this is not an exhaustive list. These working translations are provided as a courtesy by the Federal Ministry of Finance’s Language Service and are merely for informational purposes. Only the German-language versions are authoritative for the application of the law. Please note that the translations have not been coordinated with other government bodies in Germany.
Fiscal Code
The most recent English translation of the German Fiscal Code ( Abgabenordnung ) is available
here [pdf, 1MB]
.
The German version is available here.
External Tax Relations Act
The most recent English translation of the External Tax Relations Act ( Außensteuergesetz ) is available
here [pdf, 186KB]
.
The German version is available here.
Circular of 13.10.2010 - Administrative principles on business function relocation (currently only available in German)
Circular of 22.12.2016 - Administrative principles on the allocation of profits of permanent establishments (currently only available in German)
( Verwaltungsgrundsätze Betriebsstättengewinnaufteilung (VWG BsGa) )
Transfer Pricing
- Circular of 06.06.2023 - Administrative Principles Governing Transfer Pricing
( Verwaltungsgrundsätze Verrechnungspreise ) - Circular of 03.12.2020 – Administrative principles 2020
(Verwaltungsgrundsätze 2020) - Circular of 09.11.2001 - Principles governing the examination of income allocation between internationally related companies in cases where employees are temporarily transferred
( Grundsätze für die Prüfung der Einkunftsabgrenzung zwischen international verbundenen Unternehmen in Fällen der Arbeitnehmerentsendung ) - Circular of 24.12.1999 - Permanent establishments –administrative principles (currently only available in German)
( Grundsätze der Verwaltung für die Prüfung der Aufteilung der Einkünfte bei Betriebsstätten international tätiger Unternehmen – Betriebsstätten-Verwaltungsgrundsätze [pdf, 4MB] )
This circular has been changed through circulars of 20.11.2000; 25.08.2009; 20.06.2013 Application of subject-to-tax, remittance basis, and switchover clauses in double taxation agreements, taking into account the Federal Fiscal Court ruling of 17 October 2007 - I R 96/06 ( Anwendung von Subject-to-tax-, Remittance-base- und Switch-over-Klauseln nach den Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen unter Berücksichtigung des Urteils des BFH vom 17. Oktober 2007 - I R 96/06); 26.09.2014 Application of double taxation agreements to partnerships ( Anwendung der Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen (DBA) auf Personengesellschaften ) and 22.12.2016 - Circular of 20.11.2000 - Permanent establishments –administrative principles (currently only available in German)
( Grundsätze der Verwaltung für die Prüfung der Aufteilung der Einkünfte bei Betriebsstätten international tätiger Unternehmen – Betriebsstätten-Verwaltungsgrundsätze [pdf, 71KB] ) - Circular of 25.08.2009 - Permanent establishments –administrative principles (currently only available in German)
( Grundsätze der Verwaltung für die Prüfung der Aufteilung der Einkünfte bei Betriebsstätten international tätiger Unternehmen – Betriebsstätten-Verwaltungsgrundsätze [pdf, 160KB] ) - Circular of 22.12.2016 - Permanent establishments –administrative principles (currently only available in German)
( Grundsätze der Verwaltung für die Prüfung der Aufteilung der Einkünfte bei Betriebsstätten international tätiger Unternehmen – Betriebsstätten-Verwaltungsgrundsätze ) - Circular of 11.07.2017 - Requirements for country-by-country reports by multinational enterprise groups
( Anforderungen an den länderbezogenen Bericht multinationaler Unternehmensgruppen ) - Circular of 27.09.2019 (extract) - Section 138a – Country-by-country reports by multinational enterprise groups
( AEAO zu § 138a - Länderbezogener Bericht multinationaler Unternehmensgruppen )
§ 90 of the Fiscal Code - Obligation of participants to cooperate [pdf, 84KB]
§ 138 of the Fiscal Code - Reporting gainful occupation [pdf, 31KB]
§ 138a of the Fiscal Code - Country-by-country reports by multinational enterprise groups [pdf, 84KB]
( § 138a Länderbezogener Bericht multinationaler Unternehmensgruppen )
§ 162 of the Fiscal Code - Estimating tax bases [pdf, 33KB]
§ 379 of the Fiscal Code - General minor tax fraud [pdf, 32KB]
Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern)
- Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR)
European Commission
- Convention on the elimination of double taxation in connection with the adjustment of profits of associated enterprises (90/463/EEC)
- Transfer Pricing and the Arbitration Convention
- Joint Transfer Pricing Forum
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- Transfer Pricing Country Profiles
- Country-by-Country reporting
- ICAP 2.0
- Revised Guidance on the Application of the Transactional Profit Split Method
- Transfer Pricing Guidance on Financial Transactions
- Guidance on the transfer pricing implications of the COVID-19 pandemic [pdf, 726KB]
United Nations
Research projects
Mutual Agreement Procedure / Advance Mutual Agreement
- Circular of 26.06.2024 - Application Ordinance for the Fiscal Code regarding section 89a - advance mutual agreements (Extract from the repeal of the Federal Ministry of Finance circular of 26 June 2024 – IV B 5 – S 1305/19/10003 :008) - The advance mutual agreement (AMA) procedure replaces the previous advance pricing agreement (APA) procedure
( Änderung des Anwendungserlasses zur Abgabenordnung zu §§ 89 und 89a sowie Aufhebung des BMF-Schreibens vom 5. Oktober 2006 - IV B 4 - S 1341 - 38/06 - (BStBl I S. 594) ) Circular of 09.10.2018 – Guidance note on international mutual agreement and arbitration procedures in the field of taxes on income and capital
Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern)
- Mutual Agreement Procedures according to a Double Taxation Agreement or EU Arbitration Convention
- Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs)
European Commission
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development:
Multilateral Audits (“Joint Audit”)
- Circular of 06.01.2017 - Guidance note on coordinated external tax audits with tax administrations of other states and jurisdictions
( Merkblatt über koordinierte steuerliche Außenprüfungen mit Steuerverwaltungen anderer Staaten und Gebiete )
European Commission
Others