No sales tax for preventive medical supervision

BFH: Actual medical treatment is not always necessary

An emergency medical service can also be tax-exempt, even if it does not come to a medical treatment. This was decided by the Federal Finance Court (BFH) in Munich in a judgment published on Wednesday, 2 January 2019, on the medical supervision of sports events (Ref .: V R 37/17).

He was thus right a doctor from the Rhineland. Among other things, he worked freelance for an organizer of sports and similar events. He advised each of these in advance on possible health risks. During these events, he was present and made tours to recognize health problems as early as possible and to intervene if necessary. These services were calculated by the doctor on an hourly basis. He did not charge VAT.

The tax office said that the doctor had to pay VAT for this purpose. The "mere presence and willingness to perform" at the events was not a tax-exempt medical treatment.

The Financial Court of Cologne was still followed, but the BFH was now the doctor right. The services provided to the organizer served "directly for the protection and maintenance of human health". In terms of purpose, they are comparable to medical prevention treatments. The doctor had to recognize medical problems as early as possible in order to intervene quickly if necessary.

"This is an immediate medical activity that can only be done by a doctor," the BFH stated in its judgment of 2 August 2018, which has now been published in writing. It also goes far beyond mere "presence and willingness to perform".

Next, the doctor had also made emergency services in a hospital. This had been estimated at a flat rate of a rest period of 20 percent and therefore also paid by 20 percent reduced hourly pay. The Finanzgericht Köln had already decided that the tax office should not nevertheless submit 20 percent of the VAT, because the rest periods were ultimately not paid (judgment of 3 July 2017, ref .: 9 K 1147/16). mwo / fle