An investment fund that achieves domestic income which is subject to tax deduction should apply for a Status Certificate for income received from 1 January 2018 onward (cf. Section 7 (3) German Investment Tax Act (InvStG) 2018). This certificate must be presented to the person liable for the deduction of capital gains tax (party obliged to pay the tax). In this case, the party obliged to pay the tax will withhold and pay the capital gains tax reduced to 15% of the investment income. A refund of the capital gains tax to foreign investment funds pursuant to Section 50d German Income Tax Act (EStG) is therefore in general no longer necessary.

Only investment funds which meet the prerequisites of Section 1 InvStG 2018 will receive a Status Certificated.

The prerequisites of an investment fund are met by the following entities:

• Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS)
• Alternative Investment Funds (AIF)
• Undertakings where the investor base is limited to one investor, but which otherwise meet the requirements for an investment fund
• Corporations which are prohibited from operational commercial activity and which are not subject to income tax or are exempt from income tax.

Investment funds with the legal form of a partnership or a comparable foreign legal form are (with the exception of UCITS and pension investment funds) not investment funds.

The BZSt is the competent authority for all investment funds where the management of the legal representative (usually the capital management company) is based abroad and the investment fund only achieves income in terms of Section 6 (2) InvStG 2018, which is subject to tax deduction.

The local tax office of the district where the real estate asset is located is the competent authority for investment funds which achieve domestic income in terms of Section 6 (2) InvStG 2018, which is not subject to tax deduction even if the management of the legal representative is based abroad. If the domestic assets are distributed across several tax office districts, then is the most valuable part of the domestic assets the decisive factor for the determination of the local competence.

Income in terms of Section 6 (2) InvStG 2018 is only income of the investment fund which is subject to German corporation tax. All of this income must be subjected to tax deduction. Income of the investment fund which is not subject to German corporation tax (e.g. foreign income) is irrelevant.

The actual achieved domestic income is the decisive factor when establishing whether the investment fund only achieves income pursuant to Section 6 (2) InvStG 2018, which is subject to tax deduction (line 26). The information provided in the application must be based on the income expected for the current financial year. The abstract possibility of achieving other income in line with the investment requirements is of no relevance here.

Using a tax registration questionnaire, the competent tax office must be informed if, other than stated in the application, domestic income in terms of Section 6 (2) InvStG 2018, which is not subject to tax deduction, is achieved during the validity period of the issued Status Certificate. However, this transfer of competence will have no effect on the validity of the issued Status Certificate.

Yes, an application for a Status Certificate must be made for every individual or sub-fund of an umbrella. Separate applications for the issuance of a Status Certificate must be made for every single sub-fund of an umbrella.

One Status Certificate is valid for all unit classes of the relevant individual fund or sub-fund. The unit classes (Section 96 (1) KAGB) or corresponding foreign legislations) of an investment fund do not constitute independent investment funds and can therefore not apply for a Status Certificate. They are only differently designed parts of one investment fund. Explanations regarding the application can be found in questions 16 et seqq.

An application for a Status Certificate is only useful for investment funds achieving domestic income which is subject to tax deduction (Section 7 (1) and (2) InvStG 2018). This includes especially domestic dividends, yields and other income from shares as well as participation rights. Domestic interest is only subject to tax deduction if capital assets are secured by domestic real property or similar (Section 6 (5) no. 1 InvStG 2018 in conjunction with Section 49 (1) no. 5 letter c) EStG). Investment funds which only generate interest do usually not require a Status Certificate.

The application for a Status Certificate can be filed at any time. However, the Status Certificate can only be issued retrospectively for a maximum period of up to six months prior to the time the application has been made (date the application was received by post). The Status Certificate should be requested in good time before the income is received, thus the party obliged to pay the tax will be able to carry out the exemption from tax deduction in advance.

The date of validity is specified in the Status Certificate. The certificate can be issued with retroactive validity for a period of up to six months prior to the application date (date the application was received by post) upon request.

The issued Status Certificate is valid for a maximum of three years. To ensure a timely issuance of the Status Certificate, we recommend filing follow-up applications in good time prior to the expiry of the validity of the previous certificate.

In terms of tax, a change of name is irrelevant as the legal and taxable entity does not change. Thus, a change of name does not affect the validity of the Status Certificate.

The BZSt must only be informed about changes to unit classes in case of special investment funds. In these cases, it is sufficient to transmit an up-dated list with the amended holdings of unit classes with reference to the original tax registration questionnaire of the (sub-)fund concerned by email to the BZSt Egfest.Ausl.Spez-Fonds@bzst.bund.de. Investment funds which do not meet the prerequisites of a special investment fund do not have to notify changes to unit classes.

The acquisition but also the sale of a domestic real property may trigger a transfer of competence, but this will not affect the validity of the Status Certificate.

If too much capital gains tax has been withheld, an application to the BZSt pursuant to Section 50c (3) EStG may be considered in individual cases if the investment fund is entitled to a reduction of the tax to less than 15 percent of the capital gains under a Double Taxation Agreement or other bilateral agreements. The application period is four years after the inflow of the investment income.

In this case, the investment fund must return all copies of the issued Status Certificate to the BZSt (Section 7 (5) InvStG 2018).

During the transition period until and including 31 December 2018, there will be no objections if the existence of the prerequisites for the partial exemption of an equity fund are not indicated in the investment requirements. [BMF-write from 14.06.2017, GZ IV C 1 – S 1980-1/1/16/10010:001 Dok 2017/0518429]. Subsequent proof about amended investment requirements must only be provided when requested by the BZSt.

The BZSt must be informed by emailing status.ausl.fonds@bzst.bund.de if the type of investment fund (e.g. equity fund, balanced fund) changes.

The BZSt shall be notified of transmission of information on status certificates issued by the BZSt to WM or OMGEO. To be notified are the information provided (serial number and period of validity). The notification should be sent electronically to the following e-mail address: status.ausl.fonds@bzst.bund.de
Domestic brokers can withhold capital gains tax reduced to 15 percent of the investment income if there is a serial number of a still valid status certificate in the databases of WM or OMGEO for the investment fund (BMF-write from 21.12.2017 , GZ IV C 1 - S 1980-1/16/10010 :016 DOK 2017/1058518).

The application form application form in fillable FMS format can be retrieved from the form management system of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.

If possible, the application for the issuance of a Status Certificate should be completed by automatic means directly via the form server. Please read also the information in the instruction. The application must be filed by using an official form. A self-provided form is not allowed. In accordance with Section 7 (4) S. 1 InvStG 2018 only the official application form has to be used for filing the application with the BZSt. Another reason is that for the continuing treatment the application forms are readouted automatically.

The tax number is an organisational criterion within the German tax administration. The tax number is issued by the competent revenue authority responsible for the investment fund (e.g. the BZSt) and is specified in the issued Status Certificate. In follow-up applications, the tax number of the investment fund must be specified and, in case of special investment funds, any tax numbers of unit classes must be entered in lines 34 and 37 of the form. Tax numbers of foreign tax administrations should not be entered. This field does not need to be completed in initial applications.

The serial number is an additional identification feature of the investment fund which must be recorded by the person liable for the deduction of the capital gains tax (party obliged to pay the tax). The serial number is issued by the competent revenue authority (e.g. the BZSt) and must be specified in the issued Status Certificate. In follow-up applications, the serial number must be entered in the form. This field does not need to be completed in initial applications.

Persuant to Section 56 InvStG 2018, a short fiscal year ending 31. December 2017 applies for tax purposes to investment funds where the financial year differs from the calender year. Thus, the beginning of the financial year should be specified as 1. January 2018.

If the full name of the investment fund is too long for the designated field in the application form (66 characters or less), then the name of the investment fund must be entered in abbreviated form, thus the application is clearly identifiable. In this form the name of the investment fund will be indicated in the issued status certificate. In addition, the full name of the investment fund must be noted on a supplementary sheet and filed together with the application.

Taking the country-specific particularities into account, foreign addresses should be entered as follows in lines 9, 10 and 12 (40, 41 and 43; 46, 47 and 49; 52, 53 and 55) of the application form.

Example

• Line 9 Street, House number: 32, cours Valmy
• Line 10 Town: 92987 Paris
• Line 12 Country: France

or

• Line 9 Street, House number: 30 North Wall Quay
• Line 10 Town: Dublin1
• Line 12 Country: Ireland

If a (sub-) fund has several unit classes, then a designated ISIN exists only for the respective unit class, but not for the investment fund itself. Is this the case, then the ISIN of a single unit class should be entered in line 8. The ISIN of all unit classes should be entered in addition in lines 33 to 38.

The names, ISIN and any tax number of the first two unit classes should be entered in lines 34 to 38 of the form. If there are not enough lines to enter all unit classes, then the remaining unit classes should be specified in a separate sheet. Please do not use another form for this.

The application for the issuance of a Status Certificate must be signed by the legal representative of the investment fund or the authorised representative of the investment fund. The authorisation should only be submitted if requested by the BZSt.

Additional documents must be submitted together with the application as proof of eligibility. The presentation of a UCITS passport is sufficient in case of a not authorised for distribution in Germany UCITS in terms of Section 1 (2) German Capital Investment Code (KAGB). The investment requirements must be provided in all other cases. If the documentary evidence does not contain the current name of the investment fund, then the name changes must be verified by providing the appropriate documents in addition.

If comprehensive documents are submitted (e.g. investment requirements), please transmit them, if possible, electronically to the following email address: status.ausl.fonds@bzst.bund.de

The application for the issuance of a Status Certificate must be filed with the BZSt in paper form. The transmission of the application in simple electronic form (e.g. email) is not possible as a signature is required. The transmission of the application via Elster or the BZSt Online Portal is not possible for technical reasons. Please do not transmit the application by fax. Please read also the information in the instruction.

Investment funds, for which the BZSt is the competent revenue authority, send the completed and signed application to the following address:

Bundeszentralamt für Steuern
Dienstsitz Bonn
Arbeitsbereich Investmentsteuer
An der Küppe 1
53225 Bonn

The Status Certificate will only be sent to an address abroad if permitted under international law. Under international law, the BZSt is not permitted to send Status Certificates by post to the following States: Egypt, Argentina, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Gibraltar, Isles of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Mexico, San Marino, Switzerland, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Venezuela. In such cases, it is absolutely necessary to specify a domestic (German) authorised recipient.

If additional copies of the Status Certificate are required, then they should be requested formally in a follow-up application. In this case, please tick line two. Lines 14 to 38 should only be completed in case of changes or if they are mandatory fields (lines 17 to 18 and lines 24 to 26).

An application for a follow-up certificate can be submitted at any time.

According to point 7.20 of the BMF Circular of May 21, 2019, it is not a problem if a follow-up certificate overlaps with a status certificate that is still valid.

No. The application form for a status certificate should be used to apply for a follow-up certificate.

Please note that the new application form (as of February 2020) is already available from the Federal Ministry of Finance’s form management system.

The status certificate application form has to be completed in full for a follow-up certificate as well, as changes in details since the initial application cannot be tracked.

However, lines 14 to 38 only have to be filled out if there have been changes or if these are required fields (lines 17 to 18, 20 and lines 24 to 26).

In a follow-up application, you can enter the date for when the first certificate expires, even if this is a future date.

For technical reasons, it is sadly not possible to issue a status certificate with future effect. This means that, even if you request a status certificate with future effect by submitting a follow-up application, you will receive a status certificate valid from its date of issue. If the future date is already in the past by the time your application have been processed, you will receive a status certificate valid from your requested date.

It is enough if the serial number is in either the form’s "header" or in line 4. What matters is that the serial number is in one of the two fields.

So that your follow-up application can be linked to your initial application without error, it is essential that the name of the investment fund is stated in the follow-up application as it was entered for your original status certificate.

The issuing financial authority and the validity of your first status certificate do not necessarily have to be entered. It is recommended that you complete the corresponding fields in line 5 if changing jurisdiction from a local tax office to the Federal Central Tax Office.

According to the BMF Circular of May 21, 2019, a follow-up certificate that overlaps with a status certificate that is still valid is not a problem. The copies of the first status certificate remain valid until they expire and therefore do not have to be returned. You also do not have to return status certificates that have expired.

Further documents (investment terms, UCITS attestation) should be attached to your follow-up application as proof of requirements. Please submit the investment terms and UCITS attestation even if they have not changed.

You can send the documents – referencing the investment fund – in electronic form to the following e-mail address: status.ausl.fonds@bzst.bund.de

In principle, the German Federal Central Tax Office can only send you encrypted e-mails. If you do not wish for encryption, unencrypted communication is possible if all parties involved have consented to unencrypted communication in writing.

A consent form can be found here:

The original of the follow-up application should also be sent to the following address:

Bundeszentralamt für Steuern
Dienstsitz Bonn
Arbeitsbereich Investmentsteuer
An der Küppe 1
53225 Bonn

In principle, the application for a follow-up certificate must also be completed in its entirety, as changes to the information given in the initial application cannot be traced.

However, lines 14 to 38 are only to be completed if there have been changes or if they are mandatory fields (lines 17 to 18, 20 and lines 24 to 26).