PStTG / DAC7 on Suchen.Expert
The German Platform Tax Transparency Act (PStTG) implements in Germany the European requirements of the so-called DAC7 Directive.
Since 1 January 2023, operators of certain digital platforms may be required to transmit information about reportable providers and certain activities carried out through the platform to the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt).
However, not every online service on which goods or services can be advertised automatically qualifies as a platform within the meaning of the PStTG.
1. When is a service a platform within the meaning of the PStTG?
Under section 3(1) PStTG, a platform is generally a system based on digital technology that enables users to contact one another over the internet and conclude legal transactions relating to certain relevant activities.
Under section 5 PStTG, these relevant activities include in particular:
the temporary provision of real estate,
personal services,
the sale of goods, and
the temporary provision of means of transport,
in each case for remuneration.
The law expressly excludes certain technical services from the definition of a platform. This includes, in particular, software that only enables the listing or promotion of a relevant activity.
2. The “digital noticeboard”
The distinction is particularly important for services that only provide listings and connect users.
The Federal Central Tax Office expressly uses the example of a digital “noticeboard” for this purpose.
In the BZSt's view, merely facilitating an opportunity to conclude a business transaction should generally not fall within the PStTG if the relevant legal transaction takes place outside the platform infrastructure, for example as a cash transaction or by another electronic means.
The explanatory memorandum to the law also clarifies this distinction: software should in particular not be treated as a platform within the meaning of the PStTG if it merely enables users to agree on a contract outside the software provided, for example by email, through their own online shop or in a retail store.
It is therefore not decisive merely that providers and interested parties can contact one another through an online service.
3. How does Suchen.Expert work?
Suchen.Expert is designed as a listing, contact and communication platform.
In particular, users can:
publish listings,
find other users' offers,
contact one another, and
communicate via the internal messenger.
By contrast, Suchen.Expert does not provide its own
ordering function,
purchase or checkout function,
payment processing,
binding acceptance function, or
structured technical contract conclusion process
for goods or services offered between users.
The actual contract for an offered good or service is not concluded through an ordering or checkout function provided by Suchen.Expert.
Suchen.Expert also does not become a party to the transaction concluded between a provider and an interested party.
4. Messenger and contact
Suchen.Expert's internal messenger is used for contact and communication between users.
The mere ability to exchange messages is not equivalent to a structured purchase or order process provided by the platform.
Whether individual statements exchanged between two users already constitute an offer or acceptance under civil law in a specific case depends on the content of those statements and the general provisions of the German Civil Code (BGB).
However, Suchen.Expert does not provide users with a dedicated technical function through which a listing is bindingly purchased or accepted via an ordering process controlled by Suchen.Expert.
5. Knowledge of the remuneration actually paid
For the PStTG, it is also relevant whether the platform operator knows, or should know, the amount of the remuneration.
Section 5(2) PStTG defines remuneration as the payment made or credited to a provider in connection with a relevant activity. The amount of the remuneration must be, or be required to be, known to the platform operator.
The BZSt also expressly highlights this requirement in its example of the digital noticeboard.
Suchen.Expert does not process payments between a provider and an interested party.
In addition, a price stated in a listing does not necessarily mean that:
a contract was concluded at all,
the goods were actually sold,
the stated price was actually paid, or
the provider and interested party later agreed on a different price.
For this reason, in the case of mere contact facilitation, Suchen.Expert generally does not have a technical payment process that would show the remuneration actually paid to a provider.
6. Significance for private users of Suchen.Expert
Given Suchen.Expert's current design, the features described support distinguishing a service that only provides listings and contacts from a platform on which the relevant legal transaction is technically concluded and the corresponding remuneration is recorded.
In particular, in essential respects the service operates like the digital noticeboard model described by the BZSt, where the relevant transaction takes place outside technical contract conclusion infrastructure.
Accordingly, users should not assume that any of the following alone:
the publication of a listing,
a price stated in a listing,
contact from an interested party, or
an exchange of messages
automatically constitutes a sale reportable under the PStTG through Suchen.Expert.
7. The limits of 30 sales and EUR 2,000
The often-cited values of 30 sales and EUR 2,000 are not general tax-free thresholds.
Within the PStTG, they relate solely to the classification of certain sellers of goods as so-called excluded providers.
For sales of goods, a provider is considered excluded under section 4(5) no. 4 PStTG if, during the reporting period and through the same covered platform, the provider:
sold goods in fewer than 30 cases, and
received total remuneration of less than EUR 2,000 for them.
Both conditions must be met at the same time.
However, this rule is relevant only if there is a platform and a relevant activity within the meaning of the PStTG in the first place.
In particular, these values do not mean:
“Sales up to EUR 2,000 or 29 sales are tax-free private sales.”
Whether a sale is taxable is determined by tax law, not by these PStTG thresholds.
For more information, see “Private Sales and Taxes”.
8. A PStTG report does not automatically mean tax is due
Even for a service that falls within the PStTG, transmitting information to the tax administration does not automatically mean that the user concerned has to pay tax.
The PStTG primarily governs information and reporting duties of platform operators.
Whether taxable income was actually earned is determined by the respective tax laws.
These two questions must therefore be assessed separately.
9. What data would have to be reported by a platform subject to reporting?
If an operator is in fact a reporting platform operator within the meaning of the PStTG and the provider is reportable, extensive information may have to be transmitted.
For an individual, section 14 PStTG includes in particular certain information about:
identity,
address,
tax identification number,
tax residence,
remuneration actually paid or credited, and
the number of relevant activities.
Information about remuneration and activities is generally reported quarterly.
Under sections 17 et seq. PStTG, a reporting platform operator must collect and verify the information required for this purpose.
10. Informing affected providers
If there is a statutory reporting obligation, the platform operator must inform the affected providers.
Among other things, section 22 PStTG requires a reporting platform operator to inform a reportable provider, before the first report, that the relevant information is being collected and transmitted to the Federal Central Tax Office.
In addition, the provider must generally be informed of the reportable information concerning them by 31 January of the following year.
A secret DAC7 report without the information required by law being provided to the affected provider is therefore not consistent with the procedure prescribed by the PStTG.
11. A listing is not the same as a sale
For users of Suchen.Expert, the following distinction is particularly important:
Listing ≠ sale
A listing merely shows that a user is offering goods, a service or another opportunity.
The number of published listings does not automatically show:
how many transactions were actually concluded,
which listings ended without success,
what price was actually agreed,
whether an item was given away, or
whether the parties reached an agreement at all.
This lack of knowledge about the actual conclusion of a transaction is also a key reason for the distinction the BZSt makes for a digital noticeboard.
12. Changes to the business model
The tax-law assessment depends on the actual technical and contractual design of a service.
If, in future, Suchen.Expert were to introduce, for example:
a binding ordering or purchase process,
a payment function,
a structured contract conclusion process,
commission accounting based on transactions actually concluded, or
comparable transaction functions,
the classification under the PStTG would have to be reviewed again.
The current assessment therefore cannot automatically be applied to a business model that changes materially in the future.
Note on the legal classification
The Federal Central Tax Office itself points out that whether a specific business model constitutes a platform within the meaning of the PStTG can only be conclusively assessed on the basis of the individual case.
The BZSt's published FAQs are intended as an initial assessment and, according to the BZSt itself, reflect the Federal Central Tax Office's view; to that extent, they are not binding.
For a more binding clarification, section 10 PStTG provides for a fee-based information procedure with the Federal Central Tax Office. The Federal Ministry of Finance expressly notes that this procedure can provide legal certainty as to whether a particular business model involves a platform or relevant activity within the meaning of the PStTG.
Suchen.Expert and DAC7
Suchen.Expert's current functionality focuses on publishing listings, connecting users and communication.
Suchen.Expert does not provide its own ordering, checkout or payment processing for transactions offered between users and, because it only connects users, generally has no information about whether a transaction was concluded outside the platform or the remuneration actually paid for it.
This does not affect a user's tax obligations. Even if a transaction is not reported through Suchen.Expert under the PStTG, income or profits may still be relevant for tax purposes under the general tax laws.
For more information about the tax treatment of private sales, see “Private Sales and Taxes”.
