With its written communication from 18th June 2004, the German Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) explicitly clarifies that the sole provision (hire) of cranes, including staff, is not classified as construction works as defined by section 13b of the German Value-Added Tax Act (UStG). Construction works therefore do not take place when the content of the service provided involves the transportation of a crane to the construction site, the installation of the crane and operation of the crane in order to move goods attached to the hook according to the instructions of the hiring party. The company WASEL GmbH therefore performs no construction works as defined by section 13b UStG. As a result, the provision of section 13b subsection 1 no. 4 UStG does not apply to WASEL GmbH. Based on the fact that WASEL GmbH does not perform any construction works, the requirement to submit a certificate of exemption in accordance with section 48 subsection 1 line 1 of the German Income Tax Act (EStG) is also inapplicable.
