Umsatzsteuer bei Stornos von Hotelgästen

As of January 1, 2025, the revenue threshold for small businesses has been increased from €35,000 net to €55,000 gross per year. For the calculation of this threshold, what matters is not the receipt of payment but when the corresponding service was performed. The small business regulation is a personal tax exemption that allows the entrepreneur not to charge and pay value-added tax (VAT), but on the other hand, they cannot claim input tax deductions from previous services. The current threshold of €55,000 is a gross amount, where the VAT is not "calculated out," and it applies to the individual entrepreneur, not to individual activities or businesses of the entrepreneur. No Retroactive Taxation Since January 1, 2025, the tax exemption remains in effect if the revenue threshold is exceeded by no more than 10% until the end of the calendar year (loss of small business exemption in the following year) or is only lost in the current year with the revenue that exceeds the 10% tolerance threshold during the year. Only from this revenue and all subsequent revenues is the tax exemption for small businesses no longer applicable for that year. Retroactive taxation of revenues back to the beginning of the year is no longer provided, thereby reducing the administrative burden in the transition year. Timing of Service Provision From a temporal perspective, all revenues for which deliveries or other services were performed during the assessment period are relevant for calculating the revenue threshold. Whether the small business limit is exceeded or not depends on the amount of the payments for the services actually performed by the entrepreneur during the assessment period. Therefore, when calculating the small business threshold, it is not relevant when the payment is received. Instead, the focus is on the services performed in the respective assessment period. Thus, in the case of cash accounting, for calculating the revenue threshold and therefore for checking whether the small business exemption applies, the timing of payment receipt is not considered, but rather the timing of service provision. Under cash accounting, companies must only pay VAT to the tax office when they have actually received payments from their customers. Example
U is taxed under the cash accounting system. In 2025, he provides services for which he invoices €40,000. In 2025, he receives only €5,000 in revenue. In 2026, the remaining €35,000 is collected.
For services provided in 2026, €50,000 is invoiced, which is also fully paid in 2026. Solution
In both years, the small business regulation applies, as services amounting to €40,000 are provided in 2025 and services amounting to €50,000 are provided in 2026. The fact that a total of €85,000 in revenues are received in 2026 is irrelevant. Tip
The ongoing check of whether the small business threshold has been exceeded can be complex. To avoid tax-related omissions or even criminal tax consequences, our consulting services should be utilized.