Tax traps when commissioning foreign construction companies

But that has absolutely nothing to do with [Umsatzsteuer], but rather with contract law.

True. But of course, it is crazy that one can be both an entrepreneur and a non-entrepreneur before the legislator. And then people wonder why there is no more trust in the rule of law.

True. But it's really crazy that before the legislator one can be both an entrepreneur and not an entrepreneur. And then people wonder why they no longer have trust in the rule of law.

Yes, unfortunately that is the case. But this is nothing new, it has been like that forever. Income tax law focuses on profit generation, sales tax law on the intention to generate income. Accordingly, a company subject to sales tax could still be considered a hobby for income tax purposes. This different treatment can be found in many places between the various tax laws.

I do not doubt that it is so, I only denounce the duplicity. That goes against the legal understanding of every average Joe. The fact that it makes a difference to the detriment of the "defendant," especially where the state is the usual "opponent" in a dispute, does not make the whole matter any better. It is well known as a general platitude since school that tax law needs to be simplified, but with such examples I come to the conclusion that it must also be fundamentally reformed in terms of its principles.

I do not doubt that this is the case, I just denounce the duplicity. This goes against the legal understanding of every average Joe.

That is not entirely correct! The same terms simply must not be used for two different tax areas. For VAT purposes, you can speak of an entrepreneur - see § 2 UStG. In the area of income taxes, however, one speaks of a tradesperson… and then the difference also becomes clearer.

That was not what I was concerned with. It was about the term entrepreneur and the definition according to the law and especially the case law. In the part I quoted above, there is a different definition according to the Baugesetzbuch and the case law of the BGH than according to the UstG. That is bad, but should not be a topic here.