Late-filed VAT prepayment and timing allocation under § 11 Abs. 2 EStG – FG Cologne ruling.

• The FG Cologne dealt with a case involving the timing of deducting a late-filed VAT prepayment in relation to tax law
• The decision is relevant as it addresses the issue of the timing of VAT prepayment in relation to business expenses deduction
• The court ruled that a VAT prepayment filed in the following year can be deducted as a business expense in that year
• The court also clarified that the payment date is not moved to the previous year based on the payment fiction rule
• The exception to the payment principle only applies if the underlying claim becomes due within a short period of time
• A VAT prepayment becomes due on the tenth day after the end of the prepayment period, even if no tax return has been filed or an estimated assessment has been issued.

Source: datenbank.nwb.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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