BERLIN (CelebrityAccess) — A German court has ruled that EDM events in in the country can be considered “concert-like” events, paving the way for a change in tax status that will make the events cheaper to produce.
The ruling by the Berlin-Brandenburg fiscal court in Cottbus determined that noted Berlin nightclub Berghain hosts events that are culturally significant instead of just entertaining, paving the way for a tax rate of 7% instead of 19%.
“The performance of techno and house music by various DJs can give an event the character of a concert or a concert-like event even if the music performances take place regularly (weekly). The tendency of the audience to focus on the DJ and the emptying of the dance floor after a DJ set, as determined by the FG, clearly shows that the DJ – as usual at concerts – is in the foreground of the performance,” a translation of the court ruling said.
The ruling, first reported by German magazine Der Spiegel, overturns a 2008 decision by the Finance Ministry that determined that clubs should be taxed as entertainment rather than cultural events.
In appealing the ruling, lawyers for Berghain argued that the club experience could be closer to that of experiencing a symphony by composer Gustav Mahler, the Guardian Reported.
The court reached its judgement in the case in July but the ruling was only announced late last month, according to German legal practice Härting.
Berghain had already obtained a cultural carve-out allowing them to access the lower tax rate in 2016.
