Section 6: Special schemes

§ 25 Taxation of the supply of travel services

(1) The following regulations shall apply to the supply of travel services by a taxable person in cases where the taxable person is acting on his own behalf vis-à-vis the recipient and has made use of pre-travel services. The supply provided by the taxable person is to be regarded as a supply of services. If the taxable person provides the recipient with several supplies of this nature, such supplies shall be regarded as a single supply. The place of supply is determined in accordance with § 3a paragraph 1. Pretravel services are regarded as the supply of goods and services rendered by third parties that directly benefit the travelling party.

(2) The supply of services shall be VAT exempt, if the pre-travel services attributable to it are procured in a third country territory. The taxable person must prove that the VAT exemption requirements have been met. The Federal Ministry of Finance, with the consent of the Federal Council, may issue a directive stipulating how the taxable person is required to provide the necessary proof.

(3) The taxable amount of the travel service shall be assessed as the difference between the amount that the recipient spends to receive the supply and the amount that the taxable person spends for the supply of the pre-travel services. VAT is not included in the consideration.

(4) By way of derogation of § 15 paragraph 1, the taxable person shall not be entitled to deduct the VAT separately charged on invoices issued to him for the supply of pre-travel services, nor the VAT owed according to § 13b. §§ 15 shall otherwise remain unaffected.

(5) § 22 shall apply under the condition that, in the records kept by the taxable person, the following is clearly evident:

1. the amount that the recipient of the supply has spent for the supply,

2. the amounts paid by the taxable person for the pre-travel services,

3. the taxable amount in accordance with paragraph 3, and

4. how the amounts referred to in numbers 1 and 2, and the taxable amount in accordance with paragraph 3, are attributed to taxable supplies and VAT exempt supplies.