Healthcare
Tax Advisor for Dentists
We keep your in-house laboratory (Eigenlabor), VAT (Umsatzsteuer) and practice figures as clean as you keep your treatment rooms. Between tax-exempt treatment, 7 % on your own dental prosthetics and fully taxable aesthetic work, hardly any type of practice demands as much tax precision as yours. We take on bookkeeping, annual accounts and tax returns for dental practices and joint practices (Berufsausübungsgemeinschaft) and keep an eye on the points where money really is at stake in dentistry: the in-house laboratory, trade tax (Gewerbesteuer) thresholds and the figures behind buying, growing and handing over your practice.
Key focus areas for dentists
VAT (Umsatzsteuer) in the dental practice: tax-exempt medical treatment, 7 % on dental prosthetics from the in-house laboratory (Eigenlabor), taxability of purely aesthetic services (e.g. cosmetic bleaching)
In-house laboratory and the sale of prophylaxis products: distinguishing freelance professional status (freiberuflich) from commercial activity, and protecting the joint practice (Berufsausübungsgemeinschaft) against trade tax (Gewerbesteuer)
Investments in treatment units and practice technology: depreciation and financing
Practice purchase, practice handover and practice valuation
Liquidity and tax planning for KZV (statutory health insurance dentists' association) and private fees
The 7 % paradox in the in-house laboratory
Hardly any professional group combines as many tax rates under one roof as the dental practice: medical treatment in the chair is exempt from VAT, dental prosthetics produced in your own practice laboratory are taxed at 7 %, and purely aesthetic services can be subject to the full rate. This coexistence is not a design flaw but the intended legal position. It does, however, require your invoicing to separate the service components from the outset. Anyone who simply lets in-house laboratory components "run along" inside the tax-exempt treatment risks back payments; anyone who allocates too much to the laboratory gives away the exemption. We set up your chart of accounts and invoicing processes so that every item ends up where it belongs for tax purposes.
Bleaching, veneers and the like: where the tax exemption ends
Aesthetic services are the second perennial issue: only what serves a therapeutic purpose remains tax-exempt, for example whitening a tooth that has discoloured as a result of root canal treatment. Cosmetic bleaching requested by the patient, by contrast, is taxable. What matters is patient-related documentation of the treatment context; this is exactly where tax audits (Betriebsprüfung) start. Together with you we define how each type of service in your practice is to be classified, and record this permanently in the bookkeeping.
Trade tax protection for the joint practice
If your BAG sells prophylaxis products or runs the laboratory as a separate line of business, more is at stake than a few euros of VAT: commercial turnover can "cross-contaminate" all of the partnership's income (Abfärbung). The entire freelance professional practice then becomes liable to trade tax. This remains harmless only within narrow limits. We monitor these thresholds continuously and structure additional offerings so that cross-contamination risks stay visible early, before they turn into a tax question.
From buying a practice to handing it over
Whether it is a takeover with statutory health insurance accreditation (Kassenzulassung), an investment in CAD/CAM technology or planning your own handover: dental practices are capital-intensive, and the tax course is set early. We support price determination and allocation, depreciation strategy and financing, with solid reports for financing and tax questions. In a takeover, the way the purchase price is allocated to equipment, fixtures and practice goodwill determines your depreciation for the coming years, and with it the liquidity of the start-up phase. The handover is the mirror image: those who plan early negotiate from an orderly basis of figures rather than under time pressure. In between lies day-to-day business: liquidity planning in the rhythm of KZV payments, staffing and investment decisions based on solid reports. Our aim in all of this: that you know your practice figures as well as you know your patient records.
Key figures at a glance
0 %: medical treatment of the patient (exempt from VAT)
7 %: dental prosthetics and orthodontic appliances from the in-house laboratory
19 %: purely aesthetic services without a treatment context
3 % / 24.500 €: de minimis threshold (Bagatellgrenze) before commercial turnover "infects" the BAG
An example from our advisory practice
Hypothetical example: a dentist takes over an existing practice with a CEREC in-house laboratory. The challenge: allocating the purchase price sensibly to equipment, fixtures and practice goodwill and correctly separating out the laboratory turnover at 7 %. Suitable service: support during the purchase plus setting up the revenue accounts. Intended benefit: predictable depreciation and invoicing documented in a traceable way. Next step: a first meeting before the contract is signed.
Frequently asked questions
In principle no: tooth whitening for purely aesthetic reasons is a taxable service. The exemption applies only by way of exception, namely where the bleaching follows on from previous treatment, for example on a tooth that has discoloured after root canal treatment. Record this treatment context in the patient file; in case of doubt this is exactly what the tax office (Finanzamt) uses to judge the classification.
Because the law expressly excludes dental prosthetics and orthodontic appliances from the medical treatment exemption: the reduced rate of 7 % applies to these service components from your practice laboratory, regardless of the fact that the treatment itself remains tax-exempt. In practice this means splitting every affected invoice into a treatment component and a laboratory component, plus separate revenue accounts, so that the advance return (Voranmeldung) and the annual return are correct.
It can, at least in a joint practice: selling brushes, mouthwashes and the like is a commercial activity, and the commercial turnover of a partnership can infect all of its income. The sale remains harmless only as long as it stays both below 3 % of total net turnover and below 24.500 € per year. That is why sales revenue should be recorded separately and the limits monitored continuously.
What matters for tax is how the purchase price is allocated: you depreciate equipment and fixtures over their respective useful lives, and the practice goodwill separately over several years. How the contract allocates the price to the individual items therefore directly determines your liquidity in the first few years. The tax structure should therefore be in place before signing; the allocation can hardly be corrected afterwards. We support price determination, review of the contract from a tax perspective and the financing discussions with the bank.
The dental treatment itself remains tax-exempt. Taxable at 7 % is the share attributable to dental prosthetics and orthodontic appliances from your in-house laboratory, including where they are only partly produced in the practice. If you buy the prosthetics from an external laboratory, that laboratory charges 7 % on its side; passing this on to the patient follows its own rules. In every case it is important to split the invoice cleanly into a treatment component and a materials component; this is exactly what we set your invoicing up for.
With dental practices, the KZV statement and the in-house laboratory report are welcome in the first review straight away. A few things are enough for an initial assessment: the latest management report or the latest tax assessment, 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 folders of paper 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 knowledge of the sector, not the postcode. Whether and how your practice software and laboratory invoicing can be connected, and which tools are actually used, we clarify together with you during setup.
With dental practices the framework is typically based on practice turnover and the laboratory share. Our fees follow the German tax advisor fee regulation (Steuerberatervergütungsverordnung, StBVV) and depend on the object values, the scope of services and the effort involved; flat-rate agreements are possible for ongoing services. You will receive a solid quote after the first meeting; for that, the latest report, the number of receipts and the desired modules are enough. We do not consider imaginary fixed prices set without looking at your practice to be serious.
Your next step
Let us talk about your in-house laboratory in a no-obligation first meeting. After your enquiry you will receive a confirmation of receipt; your dedicated contact person will then get in touch. Still getting your bearings? We answer the most common questions directly above on this page.