Differential taxation and 0% taxation for Photovoltaics

About the Extension

The app combines two different tasks:

1. on the one hand, it can be used to sell items subject to differential taxation in accordance with §25a UStG.

2. for suppliers of photovoltaic modules and solar systems as well as PV accessories, it can be used to implement the tax exemption for private users that has been valid since 2023. (since Version 1.1.0 / SW 6.4.20.0)

The two purposes will probably not occur together in practice. Therefore, each of the two functionalities can be activated individually in the plug-in settings ("Difference taxation active" or "Taxation for PV components active"). In the delivery state, differential taxation is activated. You may therefore need to adjust this setting.

Differential taxation

For items subject to differential taxation (e.g. used items. purchase and sale) according to §25a UStG, no sales tax may be shown. This app displays the legally required notice in item lists, on the item itself, in the shopping cart and in the PDF invoice/credit note. The displayed text can be freely defined via the text module management in the backend.

VAT reduction for photovoltaic articles

For PV taxation a second setting is important: "CMS page for PV taxation info". First, please create a shopping experience (of type "landing page"). Here you can add e.g. text elements and give legal information about the reduced VAT. Please coordinate the legally binding text with your lawyer, a hint may be e.g. the section "The wording for the checkbox may be something like this" at https://www.it-recht-kanzlei.de/photovoltaik-solar-steuerermaessigung-preisangaben-best-practice.html.

This CMS page will then be displayed later in the frontend as a modal popup.

Now, for each product for which you want the PV VAT exemption to apply, you can specify it under "Specifications" / "Additional field" / "Photovoltaic taxation". Important: please assign the *normal* (i.e. not reduced) tax rate as the tax rate!

Internally, an additional VAT rate of 0% is created for the PV taxation ("Photovoltaic taxation"). Based on this tax rate, the plugin will later recognize that it is a correspondingly reduced article. Do not delete this tax rate!

In the frontend of the store, a selection box is now displayed on the product detail page for each such reduced product. By default, it is assumed that the buyer is *entitled* to claim the tax exemption. The item price will be displayed accordingly without VAT. 

If this is not the case, the store customer ticks the checkbox and then receives the price with VAT added. 

The checkbox for OptOut is listed again on the purchase completion page. The selection of this checkbox is saved across the session and applies to all potentially VAT-exempt products. However, if a buyer wants to purchase both reduced and non-reduced PV items, this must be done in two different orders.

The documents (invoice, credit note) will also refer to VAT reduced PV products.

All text modules can be customized (netzp.tvtax.*)

Note: the tax reduction applies by law only to private customers. Please make sure that you use the plugin only if you have set the tax representation in the customer group to "gross"!

In terms of logic, we have followed the opinion of https://www.it-recht-kanzlei.de/photovoltaik-solar-steuerermaessigung-preisangaben-best-practice.html. 

There is currently still quite a bit of legal uncertainty and we do not guarantee legal correctness. Please inform yourself regularly at relevant sources and get legal advice yourself in case of doubt.

Attention: due to the internal technical structure, the plugin "Custom Products" is not supported. I.e. no VAT reduction takes place here for any product options and we do not recommend using the two plugins together. Possibly other plugins that calculate prices different from the Shopware standard are also not compatible, we do not take any guarantee for this.

Note: we expressly assume no liability in the event of any warnings. In case of doubt, please have your store checked by a lawyer/tax expert. If necessary, the notice text must also be adapted for your specific industry.