Receive relief from German withholding tax pursuant to Section 50c of the EStG

If you wish to obtain relief from German withholding tax, you can submit an application under certain conditions.

Domestic income of foreign artists, athletes, licensors, and supervisory board members is subject to limited tax liability. The Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) taxes this income through a tax deduction procedure.

You can apply to the BZSt for relief from German withholding tax. Foreign taxpayers are granted relief from German withholding tax by

• already paid taxes be refunded or
• With an exemption certificate, the tax deduction will no longer apply in full or in part in the future.

Subject to limited tax liability in Germany are:

• Natural persons, if they neither have a residence nor their habitual abode in Germany and they generate German income.
• Corporations, associations of persons, and estates, if they neither have their management nor their registered office in Germany and they generate German income.

Relief from German withholding tax can only be granted if there is a double taxation treaty (DTT) between Germany and your state of residence.

If there is no DTA, you can at best avoid any double taxation through corresponding national regulations in the state of residence.

Applications for relief from tax deduction are processed by the BZSt.

You must submit the application for relief from withholding tax in the BOP (BZSt Online Portal) to the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt), Department St II 9.  

Online application:

• Register in the BOP.
• If you have already registered for another procedure accessible via the BOP or have registered in the ELSTER online portal, you do not need to register again.
•  Select the form „Application for relief (refund/exemption) from German withholding tax pursuant to Section 50c of the German Income Tax Act (EStG) (e.g. royalties, artists, athletes)“. 
• Fill out the form and submit it.
• Attach a certificate of residence and the other required documents to the application form.
• Your application is being processed and reviewed by the BZSt.
• You will receive an exemption certificate or an exemption notice (refund) or a notice regarding the rejection of your application. The decision of the BZSt will also be made available to you for retrieval via the BOP.
• If an exemption certificate is issued, the person liable to pay the remuneration will receive a corresponding notification in the form of a copy of the exemption certificate for their records.
• For reimbursement claims, the payout of the refund amount takes place about 4 weeks after receipt of the exemption notice.

Written request:  

A written paper application is only intended for hardship cases. A prerequisite for a written application is that the applicant has no possibility to submit an application via the BOP.

If the informal application for recognition of hardship is granted, the applicant will receive the application form by letter.

For refund claims: within 4 years after the end of the calendar year in which the payments were received, or not before the expiration of 1 year after the tax withholdings were paid

There are no costs.

• Objection
• Action before the Finance Court (Finance Court of Cologne)