BStBK backs VAT group reform in draft Annual Tax Act but rejects 2030 start

Ahead of the Finanzausschuss hearing, the Bundessteuerberaterkammer supports parts of the Regierungsentwurf for a Jahressteuergesetz 2026 (BT-Drs. 21/8283, with Bundesrat Stellungnahme and Bundesregierung Gegenäußerung) and calls for corrections. It welcomes that extended powers to process personenbezogene Echtdaten for KI-Systeme under § 29c Abgabenordnung (AO) from the Referentenentwurf did not enter the draft, opposes the Bundesrat No 43 move to reintroduce them, and says such interference with data and the Steuergeheimnis needs a standalone law with verifiable conditions, purpose binding, retention limits and human responsibility, not a Jahressteuergesetz.

The chamber has long demanded the Organschaft reform and welcomes the new § 2c Umsatzsteuergesetz-Entwurf (UStG-E) in principleBstbk: Personengesellschaften can be OrgangesellschaftenBstbk, and the Organträger declares the group, fixes the circle and the start, so no unintended group arises before the declaration. That Wahlrecht gives no reliance where integration is missing or later lost. The chamber rejects postponing first application to 1 January 2030Bstbk and urges a package: a separate Feststellung with the annual return with a one-year Festsetzungsverjährung, organisational integration met by joint declaration with duties to share information and settle loads, and exit only ex nunc except on insolvencyBstbk.

The draft unwinds wrongly assumed groups ex tunc with § 176 AO set aside and time-barred periods reopened where consequences follow within a year, and waives reversal only on a joint irrevocable request with no threatened shortfall at administrative discretion. The chamber warns of parallel access and chain corrections, demands a mandatory waiver once no shortfall is proven, deletion of unwiderruflich, and liability under § 2c(5) UStG-E limited to each company's own activity with no trigger on merely fahrlässige breach.

The chamber calls for deleting § 158(2)(2) AO so faulty DSFinVBV interface data alone does not destroy materially correct books or open an estimate under § 162 AO. It rejects the isolated § 233a AO rise to 0.3% per monthBstbkBstbk and demands a system tied to the Basiszinssatz under § 247 Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch with automatic adjustment. It welcomes electronic Bekanntgabe under § 122a AO with electronic receipt authority, but demands notice to the filing representative and a postal fallback in disruption, rejects § 124(1)(3) AO-E keeping wrong-channel service effective, and limits third-party retrieval under § 30 AO to defined cases with logging.

For payroll, the chamber backs digitisation with transitions and workable interfaces. It welcomes the § 3b Grundlohn clarification, the § 50c rise from 10,000 Euro to 100,000 EuroBstbk, § 37 advances reflecting § 34a Einkommensteuergesetz (EStG), Lohnkonto closing by end of February, and the § 41a annual threshold rise from 1,080 Euro to 1,800 EuroBstbk with a dynamic link and elective filing. It rejects 24 months for a domestic first Tätigkeitsstätte in § 9(4)(3) EStG-E against 48 months abroad and fixing building life at Fertigstellung in § 7(4)(2) EStG. ELStAM data under §§ 39 and 39a EStG from 1 January 2028Bstbk and the broader certificate under §§ 41b and 41c EStG from 2029Bstbk must bring monthly values without rounding, split qualifying amounts only, and no shift of checks to employers; § 39b needs a prior Programmablaufplan assessment, § 42g Nachschau needs limits, § 4(3) Lohnsteuer-Durchführungsverordnung relief must stay, and extra fields beyond Aktivrente data must go. It supports 1,200 Euro geringwertige Wirtschaftsgüter without Pool-AfA, § 6 transfers, Earn-Out as § 175 AO event, § 8c offset, a 200 Euro § 41c Bagatelle, digital Lohnunterlagen, the Forschungszulage rise and Plattformen-Steuertransparenzgesetz safeguards. Legal basis: §§ 2c UStG-E; §§ 6, 7, 9, 20, 37, 39, 39a, 39b, 41a, 41b, 41c, 42g, 50c EStG-E; §§ 29c, 30, 122a, 124, 158, 162, 175, 233a AO-E; § 247 Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch.