Information on insurance tax and fire protection tax for EU/EEA insurers

Transcription

1 Information on insurance tax and fire protection tax for EU/EEA insurers I. General This leaflet is intended for all insurers and authorised agents located in the EU/EEA area who are established outside of the Federal Republic of in other Contracting States of the Agreement on the European Economic Area and are registered with the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht) to provide services in. It is meant to provide an overview of 's taxation procedure regarding the insurance tax and the fire protection tax. The European Economic Area (EEA) is comprised of: the EU Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom,) the states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) (except Switzerland) Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway The provisions of the Second Council Directive 88/357/EEE of 22 June 1988 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to direct insurance other than life assurance and laying down provisions to facilitate the effective exercise of freedom to provide services and amending Directive 73/239/EEC known as the Second Non-Life Insurance Directive were to be transposed into national law by the Member States of the European Community by 30 June This Directive and others have been replaced by the Solvency II Directive on the taking-up and pursuit of the business of Insurance and Reinsurance (R 2009/138/EC), which is to be transposed into national law by 31 October The basis for collecting insurance tax and fire protection tax in is the Insurance Tax Act as published on 10 January 1996 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 22), most recently amended by Article 28 of the Act of 8 December 2010 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 1768), and the Fire Protection Tax Act as published on 10 January 1996 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 18), most recently amended by Article 19 of the Act of 8 December 2010 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 1768).

2 - 2 - II. Jurisdiction Since 1 July 2010 the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (Federal Central Tax Office), An der Küppe 1, Bonn has been the authority responsible throughout all the Federal Republic of for administering the insurance tax and the fire protection tax (section 5 subsection (1) number 25 Fiscal Administration Act as published on 4 April 2006 (Federal Law Gazette I pp. 846, 1202), most recently amended by Article 17 of the Act of 8 December 2010 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 1768). The Bundeszentralamt für Steuern took over the administration of these taxes from the Tax Offices of 's federal states, which were responsible for it until 30 June III. Tax basis Pursuant to section 1 Insurance Tax Act, 's insurance tax applies in principle to all payments of insurance premiums, in particular for non-life insurance, provided that the insurance contract is concluded with an individual resident in, enterprises, permanent establishments, branch offices or subsidiaries located in are (co-)insured, risks located in, in particular risks related to immovable property (e.g. residential buildings) or to movable property (vehicles of every type which are registered in a German register) or risks associated with travel are insured. There is in principle no obligation to pay German tax on insurance for risks abroad, except in the special cases mentioned in numbers 2 and 3 Insurance Tax Act or when individuals who reside in are involved. An overview of taxable events can be seen from the following diagram: Events taxable in with insurers in the EEA (including German branch offices of non-eea insurers) Spezial taxable events numbers 1-3 Insurance Tax Act general taxable event Insurance Tax Act number 1 Insurance Tax Act risks related to immovable property (e.g. structures) located in number 2 Insurance Tax Act risks related to vehicles of every type which are registered in an official register in number 3 Insurance Tax Act risks associated with travel, insurance has a term of not more than four months and was taken out in policyholder is an individual and has his residence or habitual abode in Policyholder is not an individual and the insurance relationship relates to enterprises, branch offices, subsidiaries or permanent establishments (section 12 Fiscal Code) located in

3 - 3 - Pursuant to section 1 Fire Protection Tax Act, 's fire protection tax applies to all payments of insurance premiums (without insurance tax) for fire protection insurance including insurance against business interruption by fire, residential building insurance or home contents insurance for insured objects which are located in the territory of the Federal Republic of at the time the premium is paid. The fire protection tax is collected in addition to the insurance tax. The insurance tax does not count as part of the insurance premium (section 4 subsection (3) Fire Protection Tax Act). IV. Tax rates The tax rate used depends on the due date of the insurance premium (section 10 b Insurance Tax Act and section 13 Fire Protection Tax Act respectively). The following tax rates and assessment basis have been applied since 1 July 2010 (sections 5, 6 Insurance Tax Act and sections 3, 4 Fire Protection Tax Act). This list contains only the most important types of insurance and is not complete: Type of risk Insurance tax Fire protection tax fire insurance and insurance against business interruption by fire 22% (on 60% of the premium) 22% (on 40% of the premium) residential building insurance (on 86% of the premium) home contents insurance (on 85% of the premium) personal accident insurance - with premium refund 3,8% transported goods - in - internationally exempt marine hull insurance 3% hail insurance all risk insurance livestock insurance (for an insured amount of more than 4000) heath, life and pension insurance other types of insurance (standard rate) 0.2 per mille of the sum insured for each year of coverage exempt (on 14% of the premium) (on 15% of the premium) Exemptions from insurance tax are set out at section 4 Insurance Tax Act.

4 - 4 - V. Accounting obligations and storage of documents The insurer or the authorised agent is obligated to keep records about the determination of the tax and the elements of assessment on which it is calculated (section 10 subsection (1) Insurance Tax Act, section 9 subsection (1), first sentence, Fire Protection Tax Act). These must contain all the information which is of relevance for taxation (cf. circular issued by the Federal Ministry of Finance on 12 May VersSt-S 6565/09/10001, VersSt-S 6413/10/10002, 2010/ , Federal Tax Gazette I 2010, 544). The records and the supporting documents must be kept in an orderly condition for the duration of the storage period (section 147 subsection (3) Fiscal Code ). VI. Submission of the tax return and payment of the tax The policyholder is liable for the insurance tax (section 7 Insurance Tax Act). Normally the insurance tax is called for/collected/received by the insurer together with the insurance premium and paid over to the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern with the tax return. The insurer is liable for the fire protection tax (section 5 subsection 1 Fire Protection Tax Act). The insurer must submit the return of insurance tax and, if incurred, fire protection tax, stating the tax amount which he himself has calculated, to the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern within 15 days after the end of every month and pay the tax which has arisen (section 8 subsection (1) Insurance Tax Act, section 8 subsection (1) Fire Protection Tax Act). He is liable for the tax which he has declared. If the insurer has delegated to an authorised agent the task of collecting and paying the insurance tax, then the authorised agent is also responsible for making sure the tax is paid (section 7 subsection (1), 3 rd sentence, Insurance Tax Act, section 5 subsection (2) Fire Protection Tax Act). The Bundeszentralamt für Steuern may upon application permit the tax to be calculated not on actual receipts, but on the insurance premium due (expected receipts) in the tax return period (section 5 subsection (1), 2 nd sentence, Insurance Tax Act, section 3 subsection (3) Fire Protection Tax Act). If the total insurance tax for the previous year amounted to no more than 3,000 euros (1,200 euros in the case of fire protection tax), then the tax must be declared and paid within 15 days after the end of each calendar quarter (section 8 subsection (2) Insurance Tax Act and section 8 subsection (2) Fire Protection Tax Act). The returns must be submitted even if the insurer has not received or called for any insurance premiums in the return period (such returns are known as nil returns ). The necessary forms can be downloaded from the web page of the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern. Upon request the forms can be sent to you. Attached to this leaflet are samples of the forms to be used. Pursuant to section 16 subsection (6) Turnover Tax Act, amounts in foreign currency are normally converted using the turnover tax conversion rate published monthly by the Federal Ministry of Finance as the average conversion rate for the relevant currency. The Bundeszentralamt für Steuern may permit conversion to be made at the current daily rate as published by the banks or quoted on the markets. The tax must be paid to the bank account of the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern which is given on the forms.

5 - 5 - VII. Questions and contact If you have any questions please contact the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern directly: Address: Bundeszentralamt für Steuern An der Küppe BONN GERMANY Telephone: +49 (0) Fax: +49 (0) versicherungsteuer@bzst.bund.de (for insurance tax) feuerschutzsteuer@bzst.bund.de (for fire protection tax) You can find more information at the following websites: (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern) Insurance Tax Act, Fire Protection Tax Act, sample calculations, FAQ, forms, contact forms Forms (forms of 's federal revenue administration)