Healthcare
Tax advisor for pharmacies
A healing profession at heart, a commercial business in tax law: we guide your pharmacy safely through both. Your pharmacy cares for patients; for tax purposes it is treated like a trading company: with a balance sheet, stocktaking (Inventur), trade tax (Gewerbesteuer) and a cash register that must withstand an unannounced inspection at any time. We take care of bookkeeping, the annual financial statements and the correct posting of your prescription billing including the statutory pharmacy discount and manufacturer rebates, and we give you monthly figures you can actually run a pharmacy with.
Focus areas for pharmacies
- Commercial business (Gewerbebetrieb) required to prepare a balance sheet: bookkeeping, annual financial statements, stocktaking (Inventur) and merchandise management (Warenwirtschaft)
- VAT (Umsatzsteuer) in daily pharmacy practice: prescription billing with the statutory health insurance funds (Krankenkassen), the statutory pharmacy discount and manufacturer rebates as a reduction of consideration
- Legally sound cash register records: individual transaction records, a TSE cash register system and preparation for the unannounced cash register inspection (Kassen-Nachschau)
- Trade tax (Gewerbesteuer), branch networks and the OHG (general partnership): profit determination and profit allocation
- Buying a pharmacy, selling a pharmacy and succession planning
A healing profession at heart, a commercial business in tax law
You advise patients like a healing profession; you are taxed like a trading company: the pharmacy is a commercial business, liable to trade tax and as a rule required to prepare a balance sheet, with an annual stocktaking covering thousands of items. That is not a flaw but the framework in which good work with figures proves its worth: merchandise management, gross profit per product group, staff cost ratio, liquidity. We take on the bookkeeping and the annual financial statements and turn mandatory figures into management figures: prepared monthly and in plain language, not only in May of the following year.
Prescription billing and discounts: precision in VAT
For VAT purposes the pharmacy is fully taxable; things get interesting in the mechanics: with a statutory insurance prescription the health insurance fund is normally the recipient of the supply, and the insured person only pays the co-payment. Depending on the constellation, the statutory pharmacy discount (Kassenabschlag) and manufacturer rebates (Herstellerabschlag) reduce the consideration or act as consideration from a third party, and in every case they have to be split from the gross amount into a net component and a tax component. Anyone who does not separate these flows cleanly in the data set from the billing service centre (Rechenzentrum) either gives away money or builds up risk. We set up the posting of your billing data correctly once and then keep checking it on an ongoing basis.
Cash register and inspection: ready before the doorbell rings
As a cash-intensive business, pharmacies are a focus of the unannounced cash register inspection (Kassen-Nachschau): without notice, during opening hours. What is required are individual transaction records, a cash register system secured by a certified technical security system (TSE), process documentation and the ability to count the till at any moment; missing individual cash data has already triggered a number of additional tax estimates (Hinzuschätzung). We bring your cash register and merchandise management documentation up to audit standard and rehearse the real situation beforehand, so that the inspection is an appointment rather than an event.
From the branch network to succession
OHG structures, branches, investments in automation, and at some point the handover: pharmacies are businesses with long decision horizons. We support profit allocation, financing and succession planning, with valuations that banks and family members can follow equally well. The framework for this comes from a set of figures that does more than the bare minimum: gross profit by product group instead of one undifferentiated total, a stocktaking method that suits your warehouse (at the balance sheet date, time-shifted or perpetual, each with its own formal requirements), and process documentation that actually describes the cash register, merchandise management and the interfaces. In an OHG, profit allocation and the partners' special business assets (Sonderbetriebsvermögen) are added to that. None of this is rocket science, but it is solid craftsmanship that has to run cleanly every single day, and that is exactly what we are at your side for.
Key figures at a glance
- Commercial business: trade tax despite an academic healing profession
- Balance sheet and stocktaking: an obligation under commercial law; beyond that the thresholds of 800.000 € turnover / 80.000 € profit apply (§ 141 AO)
- 19 % VAT on the dispensing of medicines, full input VAT from purchasing
- Unannounced cash register inspection: permitted without notice; keep the TSE, individual data and till count ready
Example from our advisory practice
Hypothetical example: a pharmacist takes over a main pharmacy with a branch. The challenge: taking stock of the inventory as at the reporting date, translating the billing service centre data correctly into the bookkeeping, documenting the cash register systems for a possible unannounced cash register inspection. Suitable service: support with the takeover plus setting up the merchandise management interface and the process documentation. Intended benefit: orderly, well documented processes from day one. Next step: an initial consultation before signing a contract.
Frequently asked questions
Because tax law does not look at academic training but at the activity: running a pharmacy is trade in goods and therefore a commercial business; the profession of pharmacist is not among the liberal professions listed in the German Income Tax Act. From this follow trade tax, as a rule the obligation to prepare a balance sheet, and annual stocktaking. How strongly trade tax works out economically depends on the legal form and the municipality; we calculate that specifically for your location.
The unannounced cash register inspection arrives without notice during opening hours: what is examined is the cash register system including the certified technical security system, the individual records of sales, the process documentation and the ability to count the till; the inspector may request data via the digital interface. Missing individual data has already led to additional tax estimates in pharmacy cases. Good preparation means keeping the documentation up to date and running through the procedure once.
In a differentiated way: statutory discounts reduce the taxable base in principle, but at the right point in the chain. The pharmacy discount reduces your consideration; manufacturer rebates first reduce the manufacturer's consideration, while reimbursements to your pharmacy can be consideration from a third party. All amounts are to be understood as gross and must be split into a net component and a tax component. This logic belongs firmly in the posting of your billing service centre data.
Medicines are subject to the standard rate of 19 %; there is no general reduction. In the peripheral range things can look different: individual goods customarily sold in pharmacies fall under the statutory list of reduced-rate items and are then charged at 7 %. What matters is item-level configuration in the merchandise management and cash register system, so that every sale automatically pulls the right rate. We review your product group allocation systematically once and keep it current whenever the range changes.
As a rule once per financial year, based on the balance sheet date; the inventory has to be counted physically. Simplifications such as time-shifted or perpetual stocktaking are possible, but tied to formal requirements, for example continuously maintained and reliable warehouse records; restrictions apply to particularly valuable items or items prone to shrinkage. Which variant suits your warehouse and your merchandise management is something we determine together, and we document the method so that it remains verifiable for later audits.
For pharmacies, the billing service centre report and the merchandise management data are the best starting point. A few things are enough for an initial assessment: the latest business management report or the most recent tax assessment notice, an overview of your service areas and, if available, the current list of accounts. To take over ongoing support, you will receive a short checklist from us; we set up powers of attorney and data access together. You do not have to carry paper folders around: you can submit all documents digitally.
Yes. You submit receipts digitally, you receive reports electronically, and we hold meetings by video, by telephone or in person as you prefer. This means support is not tied to the location of the firm; what counts is sector knowledge, not the postcode. Which interfaces to merchandise management and the billing service centre come into question, and which tools will actually be used, we clarify together with you during setup.
For pharmacies, turnover size and branch structure largely determine the fee framework. Remuneration follows the German tax advisor fee regulation (Steuerberatervergütungsverordnung) and depends on the values in dispute, the scope of services and the effort involved; flat-fee arrangements are possible for ongoing services. You will receive a reliable quote after the initial consultation; for that, the latest report, the number of documents and the desired building blocks are enough. We do not consider imaginary fixed prices without a look at your business to be serious.
Your next step
Main pharmacy, branch or takeover: let us look at your figures together in an initial consultation. After your enquiry you will receive a confirmation of receipt; your permanent contact person will then get in touch. Still getting your bearings? We answer the most frequent questions directly above on this page.