The UK First-Tier Tribunal Tax Chamber found that a German pension scheme was eligible for an income tax exemption in the UK even though it could not register as a public service pension scheme in the UK, because it had not been established by a UK legislative body. The law was held to be in breach of the EU principle of the freedom of movement of capital and is thus unlawful. The German pension scheme is therefore entitled to tax exemption without registration in the UK.

Open-ended real estate funds, which experienced liquidity difficulties in the wake of the financial market crisis and ultimately had to be wound up as a result, have permanently stopped issuing and redeeming their shares. They are therefore referred to as closed open-ended real estate funds. The German Federal Fiscal Court has now decided that the partial value of shares in such closed open-ended real estate funds corresponds to the exchange price at which they are traded (BFH 13^th February 2019, XI R 41/17). The value of such shares is expected to be permanently impaired if the exchange price (secondary market value) fell below the book values on the balance sheet date and the price loss exceeds the de minimis limit of 5%.

In our opinion, in the case of partial write-downs for these shares to the secondary market value, the investor's real estate gain must also be adjusted accordingly. However, due to the lack of ripeness for adjudication, the German Federal Fiscal Court did not decide this question and has instead referred it back to the lower courts.

The European Commission’s aim: To facilitate the cross-border distribution of investment funds. The result: Pre-marketing will be allowed in all member states, but the consequences are severe. Pre-marketing is to be regulated uniformly throughout the EU by a directive and a regulation. In the future, subscriptions will be possible only after the marketing notification procedure has been completed.