With effect from January 1, 2020, the BMF published in November an amended version of the Principles for the Proper Keeping and Retention of Books, Records and Documents in Electronic Form and for Data Access (GoBD) released.  

As early as 2014, the German Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) had, by letter dated 14.11.2014 (IV A 4 - S 0316/13/1003) published extensive amendments that replace the previously applicable GoBD have replaced. However, this measure was not sufficient to provide clarity for taxpayers and to take into account the circumstances of today's digitized accounting. 

To to be defined more clearly, whereby the GoBD can be complied with correctly, a new version has now been published which will apply from January 1, 2020. This new version is to be welcomed from our point of view, even if the changes are only selective.  

Additional information regarding the transfer of data media 

In addition to the recast of the GoBD a further document with additional information on the transfer of data carriers was published. This document explicitly addresses external audits at the request of the tax authorities: The provision of data subject to recording and retention requirements is accordingly at to supplement structural information that can be evaluated by machine. This could be a tricky task, especially for SMEs that have no knowledge of structural information.  

Further information on legal framework regarding the processing of cash register data can be found in our free downloadable Whitepaper "Fiscalization in Germany - Basic knowledge on KassenSichV, TSE and DSFinV-K"..