Tax Criminal Law / White Collar Crime

The Strong Shoulder on Your Side

In cases of tax crimes and/or white collar crime, defense attorneys have to have longtime experience, have to be familiar with the case immediately and have to be available on the spot.

Who has to issue tax declarations or is just part of the economic life is subject to risks of criminal law – now more than ever. We advise and represent companies and people in such extraordinary circumstances – since many years.

While in former times it was the exemption for a tax audit to end up in tax criminal proceedings, unfortunately today this is daily routine. Even small amounts will be prosecuted by specialized units of the tax authorities (Bußgeld- und Strafsachenstellen der Finanzämter). Whenever the alleged tax evasion is large enough, this circumstance alone will motivate the criminal investigation to getting active. In parallel, newspapers are brimming with reports about managers which allegedly have committed a breach of trust (Untreue), fraud (Betrug) or corruption. Compliance-departments and the public prosecution will show no mercy.

We advise and represent during investigation proceedings, in criminal court cases and in revision cases (Revision - appeal from higher court) and also in cases of imprisonment on remand (Untersuchungshaft). In tax crime cases we often choose to follow a tax approach, i.e. we are arguing that there was no tax evasion in the first place – no additional tax, no tax evasion.