The German tax landscape continues to be characterised by a complexity that is unique worldwide. This is by no means a myth:
Although only a tiny proportion of the world’s taxpayers live in Germany, honourable politicians such as Edmund Stoiber and Guido Westerwelle have in the past spoken of Germany accounting for between 60 and 80 per cent of global tax literature. For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that a renowned German tax lawyer named Albert Rädler once attempted to prove this percentage by taking a simple tape measure to the impressive library of the Amsterdam International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) and measured how many of the total 2,000 metres of shelving were taken up by books and journals dealing with German tax law.
We hope that our working methods are, at least by today’s standards, more modern and scientific than those of the legendary Prof. Dr. Albert Rädler.
In any case, we respond to today’s complexity with what we believe to be the necessary expertise:
We have been advising you on international tax law and transfer pricing for more than ten years. Exclusively.
Only in this way are we able to act credibly as specialists.
Philosophy
Within this specialisation, we consider ourselves to be generalists who advise on almost all areas of international tax law. In this way, we believe we are able to identify the necessary links between the individual areas that are so essential to tax law.
Recent developments in Germany in particular illustrate that, in our opinion, issues such as the transfer of functions or exit taxation will determine the future, at least in the medium term.
Furthermore, our firm focuses on pragmatism and cost transparency.
The background to this is the cost pressure observed among all taxpayers due to the widely lamented bureaucracy and the increasing flood of legislation. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of 12 September 2023, the EU alone is now responsible for around 57 per cent of all bureaucratic reporting obligations.
Against this backdrop, we strive to keep the necessary compliance affordable for our clients. Together with our partner KWS Steuerberatungsgesellschaft mbH, we have more than 12 employees working to achieve this.
Law firms specialising in international tax law regularly charge hourly rates of up to EUR 500 and more.
Consulting fees
We guarantee hourly rates of no more than EUR 210 for experienced professionals. As a client, please bear in mind that your fees often cover the costs of, among other things, the complex infrastructure and prestigious office buildings of large firms.
Only in the special cases specified in Section 9a (2) of the German Tax Consultancy Act (StberG) are tax consultants permitted to agree on contingency fees.
Within the legal provisions, we are happy to agree on our success-based remuneration of between 5 and 40 percent of the tax saved/refunded, depending on the specific consulting costs and the expected tax savings or refund. Our fee is therefore only payable once success has been achieved, for example in the form of a reduced tax assessment.