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Correction of incorrect booking of the input tax amount from the previous year.

November 4, 2014 | 25,00 EUR | answered by StB Steffen Becker

Short information about the company: No double-entry bookkeeping, cash basis accounting, subject to VAT, booking in SKR03.
I have the following problem. When booking genuine damages (not subject to VAT), input tax of 19% was mistakenly deducted (due to software error with input tax automatic function, typo). The booking was made in 2013. VAT return, EÜR (income statement), separate determination of income for 2013 have already been sent to the tax office. The question is, how should I proceed to correct the error?
Should I submit a corrected VAT return with a correction of the input tax amounts?
Due to the incorrect deduction of the input tax amount, the entries in the profit determination in the EÜR and separate determination of income are also incorrect.
Am I allowed to make correction entries for this case, and if so, in which year?

StB Steffen Becker

Dear inquirer,

Thank you for your inquiry. I will answer it as part of an initial consultation based on the information provided. Missing or incorrect information can affect the legal outcome.

The VAT declaration for 2013 must be corrected according to § 153 AO.

The profit for the year 2013 remains unchanged, as in 2013 - I assume - the incorrectly booked input tax was actually refunded by the tax office.
Now, in the year of correction, this amount will be repaid to the tax office (cash flow principle, § 11 EStG) and accordingly considered as a business expense in the year of repayment.

I hope I was able to assist you.

Kind regards,
Steffen Becker
Tax consultant