ERiC Licence Agreement between the Free State of Bavaria represented by the Bavarian State Tax Office, Munich Office, 80284 Munich as the nationwide coordinator of the ELSTER procedure - hereinafter referred to as "LfSt" - and the software manufacturer.
§ 1 Contracting parties
The LfSt acts here on behalf of the Free State of Bavaria in its capacity as the nationwide coordinator of the ELSTER procedure for the federal and state tax authorities.
"Software manufacturers" within the meaning of this contract are natural and legal persons who wish to integrate the C library "ELSTER Rich Client" (hereinafter ERiC) into their own software in order to record tax data and pass it on in the context of electronic tax returns.
§ 2 Subject matter of the contract and gratuitousness
The subject matter of the contract is the transfer and granting of rights of use to ERiC. By confirming the "Accept" button, the executing person acts on behalf of the software manufacturer and accepts the validity of all provisions of this contract.
ERiC is provided in machine-readable form and free of charge. If open source components have been integrated, the source code must be obtained directly and is not part of this contract. A list of the open source components used can be found in the appendix.
§ 3 Legal basis and intended use
The legal basis for the electronic transmission of tax returns and other data required for the taxation procedure are Sections 72a and 87b to 87d of the German Fiscal Code (AO Abgabenordnung).
ERiC is intended exclusively for use in connection with the electronic submission of tax returns and the transmission of tax data in accordance with legal requirements. The ERiC documentation and software can be downloaded from the ELSTER download area for developers.
§ 4 Granting of rights of use
Within the scope of the intended use described in Section 3, the LfSt grants the software manufacturer a non-exclusive right, unlimited in time and territory, to integrate ERiC and the "ericdemo" sample code supplied in several programming languages into its own software products and to distribute, lease and make them publicly accessible together with its own software as a uniform product, either directly or indirectly, and to reproduce them for these purposes.
The transfer of the right of use granted in paragraph 1 to third parties and sub-licensing beyond paragraph 1 is not permitted.
The software components listed in Annex 1 are open source software. The rights of use for these open source components are governed solely by the terms of the respective open source licences; licensing is carried out directly by the respective rights holders. The texts of the relevant open source licences are also printed in Appendix 1. The provisions of the open source licences remain unaffected by this agreement.
§ 5 Duties and obligations of the software manufacturer
The software manufacturer undertakes to provide the end user with the letter "General information on the implementation of the data protection provisions of Articles 12 to 14 of the General Data Protection Regulation in the tax administration" (see Annex 2) in a suitable manner with the possibility of taking note and confirming knowledge before using the software.
The software manufacturer undertakes to provide the end user with the following data protection notice in a suitable manner with the possibility of acknowledging it before using the software:
Data protection notice by the tax authorities:
"This software is used to collect personal data within the meaning of Art. 4 No. 1 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Art. 9 para. 1 of the General Data Protection Regulation for the purpose of processing. In addition to the pure data required for tax assessment, the software collects data on the type of operating system used by the user and transmits this to the tax authorities. This data is required to ensure that the data is processed correctly and to prevent errors in the processing procedure. The data is used within the scope of Art. 6 para. 1 subpara. 1 letter e in conjunction with para. (3) (1) (b) of the GDPR in conjunction with federal and state tax laws by the tax authorities and only for the stated purpose."The software manufacturer undertakes to use ERiC in accordance with the ERiC documentation provided and the other documentation on the ELSTER download pages for developers.
The software manufacturer must regularly check whether the LfSt offers a new version or update of ERiC. Such new versions or updates can be downloaded from the member area for developers at http://www.elster.de.
The provision of new versions and updates serves, among other things, to rectify defects. The LfSt is under no obligation to provide new programme versions or updates.
The software manufacturer undertakes to use the version labelled as the "minimum version" by the LfSt. In addition, the software manufacturer is recommended to use the latest programme versions and updates. If the software manufacturer does not use the latest programme version or the latest update, it shall bear the resulting risks itself.
Tests of updates that have not yet been released shall be carried out by mutual agreement. Use in the software manufacturer's products as part of field tests requires the express consent of the LfSt. Unauthorised provision of an update that has not been released is not permitted. Approval is granted by the LfSt by e-mail or announcement on http://www.elster.de.
When using ERiC, the software manufacturer must back up data to an appropriate extent and ensure that end users are also informed of the need for such back-up measures.
The software manufacturer who uses software integrated in ERiC for his own further development is responsible for licensing this software himself. If necessary, he must acquire his own developer licences.
§ 6 Duties and obligations of the software manufacturer when using RABE (=referencing to vouchers)
The following provisions must be complied with by the software manufacturer as soon as data records with RABE references are transmitted.
In order to be able to retrieve the vouchers via RABE, the software manufacturer must guarantee the minimum availability of the external voucher data storage provided. This is generally 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Maintenance work that results in unavailability may only be carried out on weekdays between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. for a maximum of four hours. On national holidays and weekends, the unavailability may be up to 6 hours regardless of the time of day.
If the software manufacturer cannot guarantee this minimum availability, the vouchers may not be retrieved via RABE. In this case, the vouchers are then requested by post.The response times of the external data storage interfaces should normally be in the millisecond range.
No minimum storage period is specified for the external data storage.
In order to participate in RABE, the current version of the RABE interface description must always be observed in full.
ELSTER processes the retrieved documents in accordance with the principles of the GDPR General Data Protection Regulation.
ELSTER transmits the retrieved receipts to the tax authorities only after they have been successfully checked (virus check and the requirements specified in the interface description), which then become the responsibility of the tax authorities. ELSTER will not transmit virus-infected documents or documents that do not comply with the specifications to the tax authorities. They are therefore deemed not to have been disclosed to the tax authorities.
The software manufacturer undertakes to provide the end user with the following information in a suitable manner, giving them the opportunity to take note of it before using the software: "The receipts provided by RABE in the software manufacturer's data storage for the purpose of retrieving receipts and referenced for this purpose in a declaration data record can be retrieved by ELSTER if required and forwarded to the tax authorities for the purpose of data processing."
§ 7 Support
With the integration of ERiC into the software manufacturer's own software, support is to be provided exclusively by the software manufacturer. Sentence 1 also applies to the integration of the "ericdemo" sample code.
The LfSt is available for queries from the software manufacturer voluntarily and on cancellation. For this purpose, the manufacturer must transmit the log files described in the developer manual and any other necessary information to the LfSt. If this involves personal data of the end user, the software manufacturer must first obtain the express permission of the end user, see also Section 14 (2) of this contract.
The software manufacturer may not pass on contact details of the LfSt support team to third parties or end users.
§ 8 Costs for integration, update and support
The costs for the integration of ERiC, the sample code "ericdemo", updates and support shall be borne by the software manufacturer. The costs of updating the software for end users shall not be borne by the LfSt.
§ 9 Rights of the LfSt in the event of breach of contract
If the software manufacturer violates the provisions of this contract, the LfSt is authorised to prevent the use of ERiC, for example by blocking the manufacturer ID.
§ Section 10 Liability
The liability of the LfSt or the Free State of Bavaria is excluded.
This does not apply to
liability for breach of official duties (Section 839 of the German Civil Code, Article 34 of the Basic Law).
injury to life, limb or health resulting from a negligent breach of duty by the LfSt or an intentional or negligent breach of duty by a legal representative or vicarious agent.
other damage caused by a grossly negligent breach of duty by the LfSt or by a wilful or grossly negligent breach of duty by a legal representative or vicarious agent.
The provisions in § 10 remain unaffected.
§ 11 Third party claims
If a third party asserts claims against the software manufacturer due to the infringement of property rights by ERiC and the use of ERiC is impaired or prohibited as a result, the LfSt shall be liable as follows:
The LfSt shall, at its discretion and expense, either modify or replace ERiC in such a way that the property right is no longer infringed or indemnify the software manufacturer against licence fees from the property right holder or third parties.
If the LfSt is unable to do this on reasonable terms, the LfSt shall notify the software manufacturer and prohibit its use from a certain point in time. At the discretion of the LfSt, the software manufacturer is obliged either to delete ERiC, including the documentation and all copies, or to return it to the LfSt.The prerequisite for the LfSt's liability pursuant to paragraph 1 is that the software manufacturer informs the LfSt immediately of any claims asserted by third parties, does not recognise the alleged infringement of property rights and either leaves any dispute, including any out-of-court settlements, to the LfSt or only conducts it in agreement with the LfSt. The necessary court and legal costs incurred by the software manufacturer for the legal defence after notification of the LfSt shall be borne by the LfSt.
If the software manufacturer discontinues the use of ERiC in order to minimise damages or for other reasons, it shall be obliged to inform the third party that the discontinuation of use does not constitute an acknowledgement of the alleged infringement of property rights.If the software manufacturer itself is responsible for the infringement of property rights, claims against the LfSt are excluded.
Further claims by the software manufacturer due to an infringement of third-party property rights are excluded. The provision in Section 9 (1) shall remain unaffected by this.
§ Section 12 Trade mark rights
The ELSTER logo and the corresponding graphic are protected as trade marks for the Free State of Bavaria. The software manufacturer may use these trademarks to indicate to customers that its own products are suitable for use with ELSTER. However, the product or manufacturer name may not contain the element "ELSTER".
§ 13 Import and export control
It is the responsibility of the software manufacturer to comply with all applicable import and export regulations. The software manufacturer is advised that ERiC also uses cryptographic techniques.
§ 14 Protection of business secrets
The contracting parties mutually undertake to treat as confidential the business secrets or internal company information that one contracting party has obtained from the other in the course of the co-operation and not to disclose them to third parties. This obligation shall survive the contractual relationship.
§ 15 Notices to end users
The software manufacturer must inform the end users of the following in a suitable form: Log files are created and stored locally as part of the ERiC application. The log files remain locally with the end user. Only in the event of support can they be transferred to the software manufacturer with the express permission of the end user.
If the ERiC application is not running locally at the end user, but on a server of the software manufacturer, the log files are stored on this server by default.
The software manufacturer is obliged to fulfil the corresponding data protection requirements.
If the software manufacturer forwards the log files to the tax authorities in both scenarios (local ERiC application or ERiC application on the software manufacturer's servers), it must provide evidence of the end user's express authorisation to forward this log data to the tax authorities in a suitable form upon request.
§ Section 16 Effectiveness clause
The invalidity of a provision of this contract shall not affect the remaining content of the contract.
§ 17 German law
This contract shall be governed exclusively by German law to the exclusion of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).
§ 18 Exclusion of liability for the mailbox
The Bavarian State Tax Office (ELSTER) provides other authorities with an IT component within the meaning of Section 2 (7) of the Online Access Act (OZG). The tax authorities have no influence on the content, in particular the accuracy, completeness and up-to-dateness of the electronic documents (notifications, notices and links contained therein) posted by other authorities and accept no liability in this regard. If you have any questions about individual documents in the mailbox, please contact the relevant authority.