Przedsiębiorstwo jako podmiot opodatkowania podatkiem od wartości dodanej w Niemczech

Regardless of the country, enterprises are the most important group of VAT payers. This results from the EU legal framework, which requires enterprises to remit this tax to the authorities based on their participation in economic activity rather than on their income. In the European Union, the harmonised tax base significantly facilitates the free movement of goods and services between Member States, while also creating favourable conditions for entities engaged in export activities.

This publication aims to identify the structure of VAT taxpayers in Germany – a country with a clearly export-oriented economy – and to indicate how this structure affects the amount of value-added tax remitted. The study hypothesises that the amount of tax paid reflects the economic significance of entities more accurately than other economic indicators used to assess their role in the economy, and that the structure of enterprises directly influences the level of the tax burden. To verify this hypothesis, statistical data from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, publications at the intersection of economics and law, and legal acts were used. The methods employed include, among others, economic analysis of law, taking into account historical, institutional, and functional approaches.