Suspension interest from 2019 possibly unconstitutional

The Federal Fiscal Court has asked the Federal Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of the amount of suspension interest from 2019.

Following a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, the interest rate for back tax payments and refunds was revised from 2018, so that an interest rate of 0.15 % per month currently applies. However, the old interest rate of 0.5 % per month remains in place for other interest situations, such as deferral or suspension of enforcement. The majority of tax courts have so far considered this difference to be constitutional on the grounds that, in contrast to back payments and refunds, these situations are based on a decision by the taxpayer, who could alternatively obtain the money on the open market at lower interest rates.

The VIII Senate of the Federal Fiscal Court has now deviated from this and considers the statutory interest rate of 6 % per year for suspension interest to be unconstitutional. The judges justify this on the one hand with the ongoing structural phase of low interest rates, in which the statutory interest rate at the previous level is obviously no longer justified in order to skim off the liquidity advantage that can be achieved through a later payment. In addition, taxpayers who request a suspension of enforcement would be at a disadvantage compared to taxpayers who have to pay interest on arrears. The Federal Fiscal Court has therefore appealed to the Federal Constitutional Court and referred the question of whether the suspension interest at the current level from 2019 is still constitutional.