Criminal tax law

Legislators and the courts have made criminal tax law more and more stringent in recent years. Prominent cases in the press have made it clear that this development places special demands on criminal defence in criminal tax law. The possibilities of a voluntary disclosure to avoid prosecution have been restricted.

In sentencing for tax offences, the courts of instance are guided by the guidelines of the first criminal division of the Federal Supreme Court, according to which a tax evasion amounting to millions is likely to result in a prison sentence to be served.

Our experience shows that professional defence in criminal tax cases requires strategically coordinated cooperation with substantive tax law representation. We therefore work closely with tax advisors and auditors as well as with tax departments of companies. In an exchange of specialists, we analyse and evaluate the facts of the case and the impending consequences under criminal tax law. In doing so, we consider it our core task to answer the question of an exempting voluntary disclosure for our clients wisely, comprehensively and unambiguously.

Against the background of the increasingly intensive exchange of tax data across national borders, we have established intensive contacts with numerous banks and colleagues abroad. This enables us to quickly obtain the necessary documents in the context of investigative and cross-border administrative assistance proceedings and to make use of the increasingly narrow time horizon in criminal tax cases.