On 16 May 2017, the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) published a first draft of a selective amendment to VAT Info 03 (group taxation).
Currently, group taxation requires that all group members close their accounts on the same balance sheet date. Based on Art. 21 para. 1, 2nd half-sentence of the Value Added Tax Ordinance (MWSTV), holding companies are exempt from this rule if they have a different balance sheet date for accounting reasons.
The draft now proposes an amendment to point 9.1 of VAT Info 03, which is intended to allow companies to become part of a VAT group even beyond the described constellation in the event of differing balance sheet dates. This should now also be possible if a company with a different balance sheet date prepares a complete monthly financial statement at the end of each month or prepares an interim financial statement as of the group balance sheet date, which is based on the same period as other group members.
The draft also lists elements that must be taken into account in such monthly or interim financial statements and specifies cases in which an additional internal VAT statement must be prepared and the period for which a method once selected must be retained (three tax periods).
Interested parties are invited to comment on the draft by 1 June 2017, before the consultation by the Consultative Body takes place.
The published documents are available here.
