Taxability of employer-paid pension contributions to the VBL as employment income at the time of payment

The Federal Constitutional Court dismissed the constitutional complaint without providing a reasoned decision, thereby leaving the lower court's judgment in favor of the tax authorities in force. The dispute concerned whether pension contributions paid by an employer to the pension institution of the Federal and State authorities (VBL) constitute taxable employment income for the employee at the time of payment. The decisive legal issue involved the classification of such employer-paid benefit contributions under German tax law, specifically determining whether they are subject to immediate taxation as wages rather than being treated as a deferred benefit.