German withholding tax: Foreign authors despair
Foreign authors must apply to the German Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) for an exemption so that the German publisher is not forced to reduce the royalty payment by 15% withholding tax for licenses. However, since the application must submitted digitally, processing times have become extremely long. Waiting times of up to 12 months for the exemption notice are the order of the day. Naturally, payments are also delayed for this period. For authors, this can sometimes be a matter of survival if they have to wait up to 12 months for their royalties.
In the attached press release, SAZ criticises the bureaucracy at the BZSt as well as the practice of many publishers who do not use the "simplified procedure" and makes proposals to simplify the system. These proposals are also based on the demands of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association and the Federation of German Industries (BDI), as the current practice is also detrimental to business for the entire cultural and creative economy.