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Offsetting and reimbursement of deductions for construction work

You have provided construction services for a company or a public corporation and construction withholding tax was withheld on your consideration? Then you can apply for a refund of the tax withheld under certain conditions.

Your responsible authority

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  • Forms

    Application for refund of deduction amounts (§ 48c paragraph 2 EStG)

    Available via the form management system of the Federal Finance Administration under Tax forms\Income tax\Building deduction tax

    Application for reimbursement of deductions (§ 48c paragraph 2 EStG)


  • Detailed description

    If a tax withholding amount has been declared and withheld for your invoice by a recipient of construction services performed by you, it will be credited against your taxes payable.

    The credit is applied to the following taxes in succession:

    1. The income tax withheld and declared in accordance with Section 41a (1) of the German Income Tax Act (EStG),
    2. the advance payments on income tax or corporation tax,
    3. the income tax or corporation tax of the taxation or assessment period in which the service was rendered, and
    4. the deduction amounts for construction services to be declared and paid by you in accordance with §§ 48, 48a EStG (Income Tax Act).

    The imputation is carried out by the tax office, an application for this is not necessary.

    A credit can be refused if the recipient of your construction work, as the party obliged to deduct, has declared the deduction amount but has not paid it and there is reason to believe that there has been misuse.

    If you are not obliged to submit wage tax returns and an assessment for income tax or corporation tax is out of the question, or if you can credibly demonstrate that there will be no tax claims to be secured in the assessment period, you can apply to the tax office for a refund of the deduction amounts.

    The application is formal and is made using an officially prescribed sample form. This can be accessed via the Form Management System (FMS) of the Federal Tax Administration.

    The application is subject to a deadline. It can be submitted until the end of the second calendar year following the year in which the deduction amount was declared. If the provisions of a treaty for the avoidance of double taxation apply and a longer period is specified therein, this longer period applies.

    The tax office will examine the application and, if the above-mentioned conditions are met, will refund the deduction amounts paid for your invoice.

  • Requirements

    Tax deductions for construction services performed in Germany have been withheld for your invoice,

    the deduction amounts are not credited against other taxes, and

    You submit an application for reimbursement of the withheld deductions within the statutory period using the official form and meet the requirements for reimbursement.

  • Documents

    Credit: - none

    Refund: - Application on official model form

    - if possible, statement of account from the party obliged to deduct (recipient of the construction work)

  • Fees

    There are no costs.

  • Process

    If a tax deduction amount has been declared and withheld for your invoice by a recipient of a construction service provided by you, this amount will be credited against the taxes you have to pay. You do not have to do anything for this credit.

    If a credit cannot be made, you can apply to the tax office for a refund of the withholding amounts if you are not obliged to submit wage tax returns and an assessment for income tax or corporation tax is out of the question, or if you can credibly demonstrate that there will be no tax claims to be secured in the assessment period.

    The application must be made in writing using an officially prescribed sample form.

    The sample form can be downloaded from the Federal Finance Administration's Form Management System (FMS).

    The application is subject to a deadline. It can be submitted until the end of the second calendar year following the year in which the deduction amount was declared. If the provisions of a treaty for the avoidance of double taxation apply and a longer period is specified therein, this longer period applies.

    The tax office will examine the application and, if all the conditions are met, will refund the deduction amounts paid for your invoice.

  • Deadline

    The application period ends at the end of the second calendar year following the year in which the tax was filed. The deadline may be extended in exceptional cases if this results from an agreement for the avoidance of double taxation. The date of receipt by the competent tax office is decisive.

  • Responsible authority

    The tax office responsible for you or the corporation is responsible for offsetting and refunding withheld tax deductions for construction services.

  • Point of contact
  • Legal basis
  • More information

    Provided that no credit is given for the tax withheld, you can apply for a refund of the amounts withheld for your invoice. The application must be made using an officially prescribed model form. You can find the sample application form at the link below:

    Application for refund of deduction amounts (§ 48c paragraph 2 EStG).

    The Federal Central Tax Office provides further information under the following link.

    Further information from the BZSt

  • Approved

    Thuringian Ministry of Finance

  • Approved date
    01.10.2020