[BUG] Double taxation on gifted Claude Max 5x subscription – €205.20 VAT charged twice (Germany), Fin left on read since April 30th

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Gifted Claude Max subscriptions are being double-taxed for German users. The buyer pays German VAT (19%) at purchase, and the recipient is asked to pay VAT again on redemption when selecting the plan, because redemption only credits the net amount.

This is not isolated. Related: #54680 (Gift Pro 12 months: wrong redemption mechanism + double VAT charge for Germany), #55963 (Gift Max double Turkish VAT), #48780 (Double billing). Same root cause across regions and plan tiers: the gift redemption pipeline does not recognize VAT already collected at purchase.

Timeline:

• I purchased a Claude Max 5x gift (12 months) under julia@schimanietz.de: net €1,080.00 + 19% German VAT €205.20 = €1,285.20 paid in full. Invoice-U7I13I9Z-0006.
• I redeemed the gift and received only €1,080 in credit (net amount, VAT stripped).
• On selecting the Max 5x plan, the system asks me to pay German VAT a second time, meaning I receive only ~89% of what I paid for.
• April 24: Fin confirms the double-VAT error in writing and escalates to the billing team (Conversation ID 215474047549312).
• April 30: I follow up. No response.
• June 22 (today): Still unresolved after ~2 months. Re-escalated to a human agent (Conversation ID 215474797634544).

Evidence (contains PII, available to the billing team on request):

• Gift purchase invoice Invoice-U7I13I9Z-0006 showing €205.20 VAT already collected
• Screenshot of redemption crediting only the €1,080 net amount
• Plan-selection screen requesting VAT a second time
• Fin transcript (April 24) acknowledging the double-taxation error and inability to escalate

Expected behavior: Gift redemption should recognize that VAT was already collected at purchase and not apply it again on the recipient's side.

Actual behavior: VAT is charged twice, once from the buyer at purchase and once from the recipient at redemption/plan selection.

What Should Happen?

Gift redemption should carry over the VAT already paid at purchase so the recipient is not charged VAT a second time. The duplicate €205.20 should be refunded and the pipeline fixed.

Error Messages/Logs

No error messages. This is a billing system bug, not a code error.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Purchase a Claude Max 5x gift (12 months) from a country with VAT (Germany, 19%)
2. Recipient redeems the gift, observe only the net amount is credited
3. Select the plan, observe VAT is charged again on an already-taxed gift balance

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.152 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Reporting here because Fin cannot escalate and the billing ticket has gone unanswered for ~2 months. Linking #54680 as the same root cause for Germany.