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German Federal Fiscal Court rules on tax consequences of parallel imports in pharmaceuticals industry

09 May 2025

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Tax Alerts, Information Reporting, Natio...

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Germany

The German Federal Fiscal Court reversed a lower court to rule that an income adjustment (constructive dividend) may apply to German distribution entities of foreign pharmaceutical multinationals with respect to so-called parallel imports of (original) pharmaceutical products in Germany.The ruling emphasizes that marketing activities by German distributors can create economic benefits for foreign parent entities with respect to parallel imports, potentially triggering an income adjustment due to saved marketing expenses.The court remanded the case to determine the specific amount of the income adjustment, indicating that the (pro rata) compensation received by the German distribution entity's sales force for the product...