BFH VII R 49/11•Electricity tax and battery charging are not tax-privileged
BFH VII R 49/11Bfh / Division 7Jun 19, 2012Dismissed
Extracted by Omnilex
The Federal Fiscal Court held that the mere conversion of alternating current into direct current does not itself trigger electricity tax, but electricity used to charge a battery is still taxable and not covered by the claimed privilege. Electricity withdrawn from a battery is likewise not tax-privileged. The court also saw no need to construe the taxpayer’s application for peak equalization after the request for a reduced tax rate had been refused. The revision was dismissed.
§ 1 Abs. 1, § 5 Abs. 1 Satz 1, § 9 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 and Nr. 3, § 10 StromStG; electricity tax and battery charging/discharging; the taxable object is the withdrawal of electricity, not every technical transformation process. Mere conversion of alternating current into direct current is not a taxable event. By contrast, electricity taken from the grid for charging a battery is consumed in a taxable withdrawal and is not rendered tax-privileged by the subsequent storage. Electricity withdrawn from a battery likewise does not fall within the claimed privilege. An application for peak equalization need not be construed differently merely because a request for a reduced tax rate has been rejected, absent a sufficient basis for such interpretation.
Entscheidungsdatum: 2012-06-19
Aktenzeichen: VII R 49/11
Dokumenttyp: Urteil
Normen: § 10 StromStG, § 5 Abs 1 S 1 StromStG, § 1 Abs 1 StromStG, § 9 Abs 1 Nr 2 StromStG, § 9 Abs 1 Nr 3 StromStG, Pos 2716 KN
Spruchkörper: 7. Senat
(Notwendigkeit der Auslegung eines Antrags auf Spitzenausgleich nach § 10 StromStG durch das Hauptzollamt nach Ablehnung der Anwendung eines ermäßigten Steuersatzes - Keine Steuerentstehung bei bloßer Umwandlung von Wechselstrom in Gleichstrom - Steuergegenstand - Stromentnahme zwecks Aufladung einer Batterie - Entnahme von Strom aus einer Batterie nicht steuerbegünstigt)
Extracted by Omnilex
Whether mere conversion of alternating current into direct current creates electricity tax liability
No electricity tax arises from the mere conversion of alternating current into direct current.
The tax object is the withdrawal of electricity, not a purely technical conversion step that does not itself constitute taxable consumption.
Whether electricity withdrawn from the grid to charge a battery is taxable and not tax-privileged
Yes. Electricity taken from the grid to charge a battery remains taxable; the charging process is not a privileged use.
The statutory tax privilege does not extend to the use of electricity for battery charging, because the electricity is consumed in that process as part of the taxable withdrawal.
Whether electricity drawn from a battery is tax-privileged
No. Electricity withdrawn from a battery is not covered by the claimed tax privilege.
A battery discharge does not change the legal assessment in a way that would create a privileged electricity use under the Electricity Tax Act.
Whether the customs authority had to interpret the application for peak equalization after rejecting a reduced tax rate
The court found no basis to compel a different interpretation of the application in the circumstances presented.
Once the reduced-rate request had been rejected, the submitted application did not require the authority to treat it differently in order to grant peak equalization.
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