Court case 12 K 213/19 – Court Ruling (Germany, 2020)

The plaintiffs claimed the right to inspect files in accordance with Article 15 (1) GDPR. They argued that the scope of application of the GDPR is not excluded according to Article 2 (2) because the GDPR should be applicable to all types of tax in favor of those affected. The Court had to assess whether the GDPR is applicable to a access request concerning personal data processed by the tax authority. According to Article 2 (2)(a) GDPR the regulation does not apply to the processing of personal data as part of an activity that does not fall within the scope of Union law. Therefore, the court ruled that the provisions of the GDPR in the area of tax law are only applicable to harmonized taxes, such as VAT, but not in the area of income taxation of natural persons. In this respect, there is no corresponding harmonization in the area of the European Union. The court explained further that the national legislature has not extended the material scope of application of the standard of Article 2 GDPR to the area of non-harmonized taxes. Accordingly, the Court denied the requested access according to Article 15 GDPR.