ReleaseWire Connect

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London – www.grprainer.com/en conclude: In a Decision of August 1, 2013 (File number 2 Sa 6/13), the Superior Labour Court (LAG) of Baden-Württemberg has ruled that regardless of whether a service contract was signed, an employment relationship can be established even after contract work under instructions when the employee is integrated in the business. The LAG had to decide in a case where a distinction had to be made between a service contract and an employee loan contract. The two plaintiffs had been freelancers in an IT system house which had assigned them to work for ten years in the defendants business under a service contract. The two plaintiffs thought that an employment relationship existed because they were integrated in the business of the defendant and worked under the company’s instructions. The defendant thought that no employment relationship existed since the plaintiffs were not directly appointed by the company. They had been assigned to the company via a ticket system, and they were called up by the IT employees.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London – www.grprainer.com/en conclude: In its decision of June 19, 2013 (File No. II R 10/12), the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) ruled that higher-ranking law does not result in an obligatory tax credit. The BHF further ruled that for reasons of fairness, this double taxation must be alleviated under certain circumstances.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London – grprainer.com/en conclude: Often, clients and architects have a justifiable interest in copyright protection for their buildings. However, such protection is possible only under certain conditions. The building in question must be a “work of architectural art”. Under some circumstances, it can be difficult to differentiate between a “normal” building and a “work of architectural art”. It has to be reviewed separately and individually for every building whether it might be a “work of architectural art” or not.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London – grprainer.com/en conclude: In its decision of September 14, 2012 (File No. I-16 U 77/11), the Superior Court (OLG) of Düsseldorf ruled that the principles of loyalty between an entrepreneur and an official distributor can under certain circumstances also be applied to the relationship between an entrepreneur and a sales representative. This at least is said to be possible when the existing differences in legal relationships are taken into account.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London – www.grprainer.com/en conclude: In its decision of July 18, 2013 (File No. 5 K 2148/12), the Administrative Court of Giessen ruled that a person acting as substitute is also entitled to compensatory time off if he/she substitutes for an official working on call who is entitled to such a claim under official instructions issued by the superior official.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London – grprainer.com/en conclude: The District Court (LG) of Freiburg ruled (File No. 12 O 133/12) that such a majority right of the general partner granted in the partnership agreement for a resolution to amend the partnership agreement is ineffective. In that case, the partnership agreement contained a clause whereby the general partner of a Public Limited Partnership was to have a majority voting right. The shareholders filed an action against this clause in the partnership agreement, and the court ruled in their favour.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London – www.grprainer.com/en conclude: In its decision of June 19, 2013 (File No. II R 10/12), the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) ruled that higher-ranking law does not result in an obligatory tax credit. The BHF further ruled that for reasons of fairness, this double taxation must be alleviated under certain circumstances.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London – www.grprainer.com/en conclude: Often, clients and architects have a justifiable interest in copyright protection for their buildings. However, such protection is possible only under certain conditions. The building in question must be a “work of architectural art”. Under some circumstances, it can be difficult to differentiate between a “normal” building and a “work of architectural art”, and it is not always easy. It has to be reviewed separately and individually for every building whether it might be a “work of architectural art”.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London – grprainer.com/en conclude: In its decision of September 14, 2012 (File No. I-16 U 77/11), the Superior Court (OLG) of Düsseldorf ruled that the principles of loyalty between an entrepreneur and an official distributor can under certain circumstances also be applied to the relationship between an entrepreneur and a sales representative. This at least is said to be possible when the existing differences in legal relationships are taken into account.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London www.grprainer.com/en conclude: The Fiscal Court [FG] of Münster is said to have ruled as follows in a recent decision (File No. 11 K 4527/11 E): The plaintiff, who works as a purser for an airline, asked that the actual kilometres she travelled be taken into account. She based her request on the most recent judgments by the Federal Fiscal Court (BHF) and noted that she has no regular place of work. According to the current BHF case law, the term “regular place of work” only includes the fixed long-term locality at the centre of employment. The evaluation should mainly be based on where the primary centre of the employee’s activity is located.