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Construction services and construction withholding tax

Understand when the client must withhold tax and how the exemption certificate removes that duty, compute the withholding, apply for the certificate, file the withholding and have it refunded where appropriate: 6 steps.

Start here: German construction withholding tax and exemption

Understand: construction withholding tax and exemption certificate

  1. Step 1 of 6
    CoursePaid individually60 min

    German construction withholding tax and exemption

    A business or public-law body that pays for construction work in Germany must withhold 15 percent of the consideration including VAT, unless a de minimis threshold applies or the contractor presents an exemption certificate. The first module explains who must withhold and how the thresholds are added up. The second shows how the contractor obtains the certificate and how the client checks it. The third walks through filing, payment, liability, crediting and refund.
  2. Step 2 of 6
    CoursePaid individually61 min

    German place of supply, reverse charge, EU acquisitions

    Where a service is taxed is decided by § 3a UStG: for a business customer at the customer's seat, for a consumer in principle at the supplier's seat, with exceptions for land, events, restaurants and electronic services, including the 10,000 euro threshold. Who then owes the tax is governed by § 13b: foreign suppliers, construction work, building cleaning, scrap, mobile phones from 5,000 euros. Plus the intra-Community acquisition from the buyer's side and the 12,500 euro acquisition threshold. Three modules with case studies built on the statute.

Compute: construction withholding tax

  1. Step 3 of 6
    CalculatorFree result

    German construction withholding tax — 15 per cent of the consideration

    The threshold is AGGREGATED PER RECIPIENT: three invoices of EUR 2,000 cross it although none reaches it alone. And it is then not the excess that is withheld but the WHOLE current payment.

Apply and file: exemption certificate, withholding return, refund

  1. Step 4 of 6
    FormFree25 min

    German construction withholding exemption certificate (§ 48b EStG)

    Avoiding the 15 per cent construction withholding: who issues the certificate — the tax office, not the BZSt — how the client confirms it in the EIBE portal, and why that check decides their liability.
  2. Step 5 of 6
    FormFree20 min

    German construction withholding return (§ 48a EStG)

    Withhold 15 per cent, file and pay by the tenth — to the PROVIDER'S tax office: which month sets the deadline, why the return counts as a self-assessment, and when liability falls away.
  3. Step 6 of 6
    FormFree30 min

    Refund of German construction withholding tax (§ 48c(2) EStG)

    Four steps of crediting first, and only then a refund — with the reason written into the statute: crediting against advance payments may not produce a refund. The two conditions that open the route, and why the deadline hangs on the DECLARATION, not the withholding. Guide and worked example.

The other paths

A different procedure, the same principle: the three pillars in order.

Read in German