According to Deutsche Umschlaggesellschaft Schiene-Straße (DUSS) it has become necessary to adjust the "hazardous goods penalty" billing item for sales tax purposes. The tenor of adjudication in recent years has moved towards regarding such penalties as part of the exchange of services of relevance to taxation law and, hence, as subject to tax in principle. A re-evaluation has been undertaken on the basis of the revised adjudication.

The billing process is being adjusted for all transactions with a time of performance from 01.07.2016. Invoices prior to this date will not be affected by the change. The "hazardous goods penalty" vis-à-vis service recipients based in Germany will thus be billed subject to tax in principle. This will not apply to contractors with a valid foreign sales tax identification number based in other EU countries or to contractors based in a third-party country. The reverse-charge procedure applies here.

If you have any questions on this subject, please do not hesitate to contact Frank Hüsemann, Manager Billing & Invoice Verification (phone: +69 /7 95 05 -2 70, e-mail: fhuesemann@kombiverkehr.de) or Sabine Kauffeld, Head of Finance & Accouting (phone: +69 /7 95 05 -4 52, e-mail: skauffeld@kombiverkehr.de)