For a long time, universities as legal entities and corporations under public law were not considered taxable entities due to their public teaching and research mandate. The tax authorities did not scrutinize the quality of the income generated by universities.

However, especially since the creation of the European Union, the idea of equality has come to the fore through harmonizing legislation in the Community. As a result, competitive neutrality has also gained in importance in the EU market economy zone. For universities, this meant that their activities were not allowed to distort competition on the market.

However, as the range of activities of universities is shifting towards economic activities against the backdrop of increasingly scarce resources, the taxation of services that are provided outside of the original university tasks, such as (sovereign) basic research and (sovereign) teaching, must also be an issue.

It is therefore now beyond question that universities, as legal entities under public law, are also subject to taxation insofar as they perform economic activities.

In detail, the university has points of contact with various facets of tax law. The focus is on the taxation of income under VAT law and the taxation of any profits under income tax law. For a long time, universities as legal entities and corporations under public law were not considered taxable entities due to their public teaching and research mandate. The tax authorities did not scrutinize the quality of income generated by universities.

However, especially since the creation of the European Union, the idea of equality has come to the fore through harmonizing legislation in the Community. As a result, competitive neutrality has also gained in importance in the EU market economy zone. For universities, this meant that their activities were not allowed to distort competition on the market.

However, as the range of activities of universities is shifting towards economic activities against the backdrop of increasingly scarce resources, the taxation of services that are provided outside of the original university tasks, such as (sovereign) basic research and (sovereign) teaching, must also be an issue.

It is therefore now beyond question that universities, as legal entities under public law, are also subject to taxation insofar as they perform economic activities.

In detail, the university has points of contact with various facets of tax law. The focus is on the taxation of income under VAT law and the taxation of any profits under income tax law.