The Communication Regulation (MVO) has its legal basis in Section 93a of the German Fiscal Code (Abgabenordnung, AO). 

The MVO regulates the transmission of communications from authorities and other public bodies to the tax authorities. It contains precise instructions for the bodies subject to the communication obligation as to what must be communicated to which tax office or tax administration, at what time and to what extent. 

The authorities within the meaning of the MVO include all public bodies that perform public administration tasks (§ 6 Abs. 1 AO). This means that universities, such as the University of Potsdam, are directly affected.

The reporting obligation applies in principle to payments to:

• Private individuals/non-entrepreneurs
• Entrepreneurs, if they are not acting within the scope of their business or do not use a business account (e.g. accounts that are not specified in business letters or commercial invoices). 

In the case of the UP, this includes in particular: 

• Remuneration for guest lectures, teaching assignments, exercise instructors, corrections and freelance work
• Scholarships and prize money (including grants and supplements)
• Grants to visiting scholars
• Travel expense reimbursements to persons who are not employees of the University of Potsdam.

The following payments are exempt from the reporting requirement:

• Payments made under an employment contract with the University of Potsdam, e.g. reimbursement of expenses or travel expenses to employees
• Payments to third parties that are clearly made in the context of a commercial or freelance main activity and are transferred to a business account. For example, payment to a limited liability company (GmbH) on the basis of an invoice with all the usual invoice details such as tax number or VAT ID number.
• Payments to authorities and public bodies.
• Payments to non-profit organisations (upon presentation of a current exemption certificate).

In order for the University of Potsdam to comply with its legal reporting obligations, the following information must be collected and forwarded to the tax authorities:

• Surname, first name
• Address (street, postcode, town, country)
• Date of birth
• Tax identification number for natural persons (tax ID, 11 digits, not to be confused with the tax number) or economic identification number or tax number for legal entities
• IBAN to which the payment was made and account holder
• Reason for payment
• Amount of payments made in the calendar year
• Date of payment

Every person registered in Germany automatically receives a tax ID from the Federal Central Tax Office.

• Information on tax IDs can be found on the Federal Central Tax Office website:
  Federal Central Tax Office – The identification number
• Persons without a registered address in Germany (e.g. those residing abroad) can apply for a tax ID number from the relevant tax office. The tax authorities provide a form for this purpose (entry in the search field → Vordruck 010250):
  Application for a tax identification number for persons not required to register (German)

The University of Potsdam is legally obliged to collect the aforementioned data and transmit it to the tax authorities (recipients of the data).

• The data is, among other things, processed for the purpose of fulfilling the reporting obligations under § 93a AO.
• The legal basis for data processing is Art. 6 Abs. 1 Buchst. c DSGVO (GDPR) in conjunction with § 93a AO and the Notification Regulation (MVO).
• The data is stored and processed in accordance with the legal requirements.