Act on the Reporting Obligation and the Automatic Exchange of Information in Tax Matters by Reporting Platform Operators (Platform Tax Transparency Act (PStTG), Plattformen-Steuertransparenzgesetz)

BMF, Schreiben vom 2.2.2023, IV B 6 - S 1316/21/10019 :025 (DOK 2023/0111801)

Questions concerning the application of the Platform Tax Transparency Act

The Platform Tax Transparency Act (PStTG) of 20 December 2022 (Federal Tax Gazette I, p. 2730) introduced a reporting obligation for operators of digital platforms and the cross-border automatic exchange of information between tax authorities of EU Member States. The Act serves to transpose Council Directive (EU) 2021/514 of 22 March 2021 amending Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (OJ L 104 of 25 March 2021, p. 1). The Act entered into force as of 1 January 2023.

This circular assists in the proper implementation of the Platform Tax Transparency Act and addresses issues of practical relevance.

With reference to the outcome of discussions with the highest revenue authorities of the Länder, the following arrangements apply:

General aspects

Does the Platform Tax Transparency Act have any legal impact on the taxation of income or revenue?

No. The Platform Tax Transparency Act only contains tax procedural law. It does not affect other tax laws. In particular, the Platform Tax Transparency Act does not have any impact on the laws that concern the individual types of taxes and include provisions on, for example, taxpayers, the objects of taxation, tax bases or tax rates (e.g. the Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz), the Corporation Tax Act (Körperschaftsteuergesetz), the Trade Tax Act (Gewerbesteuergesetz) and the VAT Act (Umsatzsteuergesetz)), which determine the taxation of income and revenue.

Division 1 – General provisions

A. Definitions

A.1 Platform; platform operator (section 3 PStTG)

1.1	Is there an exception for platforms that are only used within a company or group? No. The Platform ...