BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – The Federal Ministry of Finance wants to remove tax hurdles for the operation of photovoltaic systems. This emerges from an internal paper from the ministry that is available to the German Press Agency. Many citizens would shy away from installing solar systems – especially on residential buildings – for bureaucratic reasons, it says. “Further impetus” is therefore required to accelerate the expansion of solar energy in Germany. Among other things, the ministry proposes a tax exemption for income from solar systems, the elimination of tax return obligations and a lower sales tax rate for the delivery of photovoltaic systems.
According to the will of the Ministry of Finance, income tax assistance associations should also be able to advise on tax issues related to solar systems in the future. To this end, their advisory powers are to be expanded. According to the current legal situation, these associations have, among other things, no authority to advise when sales subject to VAT occur. According to the paper, this is regularly the case with photovoltaic systems that feed electricity into the grid. According to the current regulation, income tax assistance associations are not allowed to advise their members on the installation of a photovoltaic system with an installed capacity of up to 30 kilowatts. According to the paper, the ministry plans to expand the advisory powers up to this performance limit.
According to the draft, the envisaged income tax exemption for income from the operation of photovoltaic systems should apply to systems in single-family houses of up to 30 kilowatts and up to 15 kilowatts per residential or commercial unit in multi-family houses and mixed-use houses.
According to dpa information, the action paper from the house of Christian Lindner (FDP) has not yet been finally agreed within the federal government./faa/DP/jha