Can an estimate based on the official margin tables be challenged?
Yes — and the strongest objection is one of principle. The German official margin tables (Richtsatzsammlung) are an administrative instruction of the Federal Ministry of Finance. They are not a statute, they do not bind the courts, and they do not replace the statutory yardstick. That yardstick is in § 162 Abs. 1 Satz 2 AO: all circumstances of significance for the estimate must be taken into account — the circumstances of the actual business, not those of a comparison group.
A margin figure is a range, not a value
For each trade the tables give a lower, an upper and a middle gross-profit mark-up. That form alone says that there is no single correct value. Where within the range a particular business lies depends on its own conditions: location, range of goods, price level, staffing, opening hours, share of takeaway sales. Precisely those conditions are the circumstances whose consideration § 162 Abs. 1 Satz 2 AO requires.
What speaks against simply applying a margin figure
The provisions in this table are German law. Most European legal orders know the same principle — set out verbatim and by country in the register of legal bases.
| Objection | Legal basis | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| The statutory yardstick | § 162 Abs. 1 Satz 2 AO | All circumstances of the individual case that are of significance for the estimate. |
| Only so far as necessary | § 162 Abs. 1 Satz 1 AO | Estimation only in so far as nothing can be established or calculated. |
| Precedence of the accounts | § 158 Abs. 1 AO | Proper accounts shall be taken as the basis — ahead of any external comparison value. |
| The threshold | § 158 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 AO | Only once there is cause to object to substantive accuracy. |
| Favourable circumstances too | § 88 Abs. 1 Satz 2 AO | Circumstances favourable to the taxpayer must be taken into account as well. |
| Latvia for comparison | 23. pants Abs. 7 likuma „Par nodokļiem un nodevām“ | There the statute names the direct method from documents and accounts first, the indirect one only after it. |
The internal comparison beats the external one
A margin figure is an external business comparison: it measures one business against others. A full costing built from your own goods input is an internal comparison: it measures the business against itself. The internal comparison rests on the circumstances of this case, the external one on those of other people's — and § 162 Abs. 1 Satz 2 AO asks about the circumstances of this case.
What does not carry the objection on its own
Establishing that your own mark-up lies below the margin figure is not an argument but the starting position. It becomes an argument only once it is explained and documented why — and once the explanation can be recalculated. Without figures it is an assertion against an administrative table, and the table has the advantage of being written down.
What we contribute
We establish your business's mark-up from its own documents and recipes — completely, not in samples — and disclose what makes it differ from an industry average. Not as an opinion, but as a derivation that can be recalculated.
Measured against Europe’s strictest standard
Official benchmark tables — this standard is not equally high everywhere. It is at its strictest where it reads: The state tax and customs authority maintains an ESTIMATION DATABASE. Drawing on findings from earlier audits, it holds turnover, headcount and other data by field of activity and by region. It is updated annually, also using data from the Central Statistical Office (Adóigazgatási rendtartás § 109 Abs. 2, Hungary).
A set of official margin figures measures against other businesses. A full costing measures the business against itself.
In our register this axis is recorded as exceeded in 8 of 11 documented legal orders. The assessment is ours and can be read country by country with its source — it is not a third party’s certification.
The legal provisions reproduced here are for information and do not replace legal advice. For application in an individual case the legal position at the time of the proceedings must be examined by a lawyer admitted in the country and field concerned.