1. Subject of the contract, Conclusion of the contract
1.1 These terms of the contract apply for the client of the advisory and service agreement
ETL Treuhand Wilters & Kollegen Steuerberatungsgesellschaft mbH
VAT-Refund-International
Hinüberstraße 4a
30175 Hanover
(hereinafter referred to as “ETL”)
as well as for the Principal, namely foreign exhibitors and visitors (only companies, no private persons and users of German trade fairs and other events in Germany) (hereinafter referred to as “Principal”) and relate to consultation and support in the handling of the input VAT reimbursement process for the Principal.
1.2 ETL will pursue, on behalf and in the name of the Principal, a rebate of input VAT paid to the German Federal Tax Office by the Principal, on the basis of the original invoices and receipts made available by the Principal, and will advise the Principal accordingly.
1.3 The contract is concluded through online registration by the Principal on the ETL/ VAT-Refund-International website, or at the latest, with the sending of the invoice documents to ETL, including the granting of power of attorney to carry out the process of input VAT reimbursement, provided that ETL does not expressly decline the proposed commission in writing (which may also be done by email).
2. Payment
2.1 ETL receives a flat fee of 15% of the actual rebate amount for their services. Should the calculation of this fee fall below 99 Euro in any case, then ETL will be entitled to a minimum flat fee of 99 Euro.
2.2 The Principal agrees that the refund will be paid to a special client account held by ETL, after receipt of which ETL will deduct the flat fee specified in Paragraph 2.1 and the remaining sum will then be paid immediately to the Principal to an account named by the Principal.
The Principal owes no advance or instalment payments.
3. The Principal’s obligation to cooperate
The Principal must ensure that ETL receive, without express request, all the documents necessary for processing the request (in particular, signed power of attorney and rebate application forms bearing your company's official stamp/mark, company certificate, as well as invoices; all must be originals, not copies) in good time to meet the deadline for filing the application. The Principal must also ensure that ETL is informed of all circumstances and instances that could have any bearing on the processing of the request.
4. General scope of services
The Principal understands that ETL has only limited influence over the duration of the process and the payout of the rebate amount vis-à-vis the addressee of the refund process, namely the German Federal Tax Office. ETL will, however, do their utmost to accelerate the refund process to the best of their power. However, it cannot be excluded that in particular cases the rebate can take over one year from the application date.
ETL commit to an agreed service but cannot guarantee a particular outcome. The client’s request can only be correctly processed if ETL receives all the documents and information required to prepare and submit the application at least four weeks, at the latest, before the expiry of the submission deadline for the rebate application as set by the German tax authorities.
5. Data protection
The Principal understands that personal and factual data is stored by ETL on data processing equipment and other data storage and processing media. The Principal is aware of the risks involved with email communication – in particular, the risk of data loss during transmission – and understands that an exchange of information between the Principal and ETL can take place by email.
ETL is obliged to handle all data, documents and information submitted confidentially and use these only for the express purpose of the input VAT rebate process.
6. The Principal’s documents
ETL will carefully and correctly handle and keep safe all documents, particularly invoices, submitted by the Principal for the purpose of expert advice and support in the VAT rebate process. ETL is not liable for any loss of these documents in the postal system or by the German Federal Tax Office which processes the rebate application.
Following the return of payment from the German Federal Tax Office, ETL will immediately return the documents to the Principal.
7. Liability
The liability of ETL is limited to the amount of the respective refund; this is not valid in the case of gross criminal negligence or deliberate actions to the disadvantage of the Principal.
ETL is further not liable for whether all the invoice documents made available by the Principal which indicate the VAT amount are also actually accepted by the German Federal Tax Office..
8. Notice of cancellation
The advisory and service agreement can ordinarily be terminated in writing by both sides under observance of a two-week deadline, without prejudice to the rights of both sides to an extraordinary termination with good cause.
If the rebate application submitted by ETL on behalf of the Principal is pending at the German Federal Tax Office at the time the agreement is terminated, ETL is entitled and – if the termination is initiated by ETL – also obliged, to bring this to a conclusion, as well as to collect the related flat fee paid specified in paragraph 2.
9. Final clause
9.1 Statute of limitations
Any claim of the Principal for any damages arising from the legal relationship which forms the basis of these contractual conditions is barred by limitation for three years from the point in time at which the claim originated, or three years after the ending of the agreement at the latest. This regulation corresponds to the regulations valid for tax consultants (§ 68 of the German Act Regulating the Profession of Tax Advisors (StBerG)).
9.2 Place of execution
The place of execution for all obligations resulting from the contractual relationship is Hanover/Germany, provided that the nature of the fulfilment of the obligations does not coercively oppose this.
9.3 Applicable law, Jurisdiction
The advisory and service agreement between the Principal and ETL is subject exclusively to German law with the exception of conflicting laws of international private law.
The court in Hanover/Germany is exclusively responsible for resolving all disagreements between the contractual partners that cannot be settled amicably.
9.4 Separability clause
Should one or more of the preceding provisions or a regulation included in connection with these general contractual terms or in the whole contractual relationship be or become ineffective in whole or in part, the remaining provisions shall remain unaffected. In this case, the ineffective provision shall be replaced by an effective provision which most closely resembles the ineffective one.
