Due to the all-phase net principle of the VAT system directive, the sales tax (respective VAT) should always burden the last, private customer. The end user thus pays the tax on the entire added value created within the service chain. All entrepreneurs involved, on the other hand, can deduct the sales tax as so-called input tax if the requirements of § 15 UStG are met.
Basics and deductibility of the input tax are regulated in § 15 UStG. Section 15a of the UStG also provides for an additional provision for the correction of the VAT deduction if the entrepreneur has made it too large or too small. Tax amounts that are deductible as input tax are refunded to the entrepreneur by the tax office. As a rule, an offset is made with the current sales tax to be paid within the framework of the sales tax advance notification.
In principle, the entrepreneur has the right to deduct the sales tax charged to him by other companies as input tax if the requirements of § 15 (1) sentence 1 number 1 UStG are met:
This article does not replace tax or legal advice in an individual case. Facts, current law, jurisdiction, documentation and implementation remain decisive.