Law regarding fiscal offenses

Contrary to regular fiscal law German fiscal offenses law is marked by a multiplicity of very special provisions. It is taken for granted that your personal tax counsultant is taking good care of your current tax issues. When it comes to legal proceedings for fiscal offenses it is, however, indispensable to consult and brief professional counsel, representation and defence by a lawyer who is specialized and experienced in this field.

 If you were to be confronted with a charge of a minor offense of fiscal law or of an evasion of taxes or fiscal evasion by failure to take due care, we will assist and support you already during preliminary stages in order to try and avoid investigating proceedings or proceedings  for minor penal offenses or penal offenses. In cases where penal proceedings were already initiated we will make our best efforts to see to it that such proceedings will either be dismissed with or without a monetary imposition, and we shall to this end get into early contact with tax investigators and the director of investigations, with the office for the infliction of administrative fines and for penal cases, or with the public prosecutor’s office. Apart from that it is our endeavour to avoid a (main) trial and bring the case to an end by way of a Penal Order. If the case involves a fiscally incorrect handling of higher amounts, it is our topmost priority to avoid an imprisonment sentence, and the next level is to convince the Court that a tolerable fine is appropriate, which can be afforded in addition to the tax amounts which are in arrears and which have to be paid on top.

 

The following subjects or situations frequently call for counselling and representation:

 

  • a self-accusation of tax evasion or correction of tax returns at an early stage, for instance if there is a risk that there will be an anonymous report or that a notice of inspection is given;
  • a verification of whether a self-accusation will have an effect, for instance in view of an external audit which has already been ordered, a special turnover tax audit or a turnover tax search, an abbreviated field audit, or an on-site tax assessment;
  • a limitation of actions in cases of the German laws concerning fiscal offenses and/or fiscal limitation of actions for tax claims in cases of a charge of tax evasion;
  • support and counselling either by telephone and/or on site, if tax investigators show up;
  • we also provide a leaflet informing you of the rights which you have in case that your are charged of having committed an offense, such as, for instance, your right to refuse to make a statement and expedient conduct in relation to tax investigator(s)
  • the ascertainment of facts and the valuation of controversial fiscal issues are of prime significance when it comes to the defence of a client, as these have consequences, for instance for the assessment of the bases of taxation which will be applicable in a specific case;
  • your rights as a witness and a right which might entitle you to refuse to make a statement, or, in case of a self-accusation, we provide information on the preconditions and limits of a right to withhold information;
  • the realistic assessment of the penalty which is to be expected, i.e. the type and amount involved, e.g. a rough estimate of the number of daily income rates the infliction of which is to be expected, and of the amount which may be assessed as one daily income rate, as well as of the overall penalty.

 

Depending on what you wish us to do we will naturally also be ready to cooperate with your personal tax consultant or with a tax consulting office which is associated with our own office as a cooperating partner.

 

Other legal areas around Fiscal Law