The placement of orders via digital platforms in the form of so-called crowdworking serves to outsource (mostly) small-scale activities to a large number of people who are mostly unknown to the client – the “crowd” – whereby the orders are (frequently) placed via the operator of an online platform. The modern digital structuring of work (inevitably) leads to questions arising about the legal status of those involved in it. In the context of crowdworking, the status of crowdworkers as self-employed or employees had not been clarified until now. The Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht – BAG) has now ruled in a judgment dated 1 December 2020 that a crowdworker in the case to be decided was not self-employed but had to be classified as an employee (case no.: 9 AZR 102/20).

In its decision of 26 February 2020 (file no. XII ZR 51/19), the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) further refined its case law on the effective representation of a limited liability company (GmbH) by one of several managing directors with joint power of representation. This was prompted by the conclusion of a limited commercial lease agreement by one of several GmbH managing directors.

The Annual Tax Act 2020 was adopted on 16 December 2020 and introduces a number of amendments, which include, in particular, necessary adjustments to EU law and the case law of the European Court of Justice. Furthermore, the legislature is responding to (unwelcome) Federal Tax Court case law and implementing other supplementary measures to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic.