Harald Elster

Harald Elster (born November 7, 1952 in Morsbach ) is a German tax advisor and auditor and has been President of the German Association of Tax Consultants (DStV) since 2013 .

Career

Elster worked until 1985 as the commercial manager of a medium-sized company. He was appointed tax agent in 1979 and has also been a tax advisor since 1982. 1986 took place orders for accountants and auditors in 2003 for quality control according to § 57a para. 3 accountants (WPO). Since 1986, Elster has its own office and since 2005 in the law firm Elster & Dr. Dietrich works as an independent consultant in Reichshof .

In 1996 the Oberberg district of the Steuerberater-Verband eV Cologne elected Elster as chairman. From 2000 Elster became involved, initially as Vice President, and since 2008 as President of the Association of Tax Advisors in Cologne. Elster began his nationwide association involvement with the election of Vice President and Treasurer of the German Association of Tax Advisors (DStV) and the German Tax Advisory Institute (DStI) in 2009. In 2013 the DStV General Assembly elected him as the new President of DStV and DStI and confirmed him in this office in 2017.

Since taking office, Elster has been committed to the interests of tax advisory and auditing professions, in particular to strengthen medium-sized businesses in Germany, to increase the presence of tax advisory and auditing professions in Europe and to highlight the business competence of the profession. During Elster's tenure, the German Tax Advisors' Day developed into the largest industry meeting in Germany with specialist lectures, further training units and an extensive specialist exhibition in the German-speaking region. The strategic expansion of the political sphere of action to Europe and the opening of a European office in Brussels together with the Federal Chamber of Tax Advisors as German Tax Advisers also falls within his term of office as DStV President. In addition to his voluntary work for the DStV, Elster volunteered from 2013 to 2017 as Vice President and Treasurer of the Federal Association of Liberal Professions (BFB).

Positions

Notification requirements for tax arrangements

Elster criticizes the stricter legislation on cross-border tax arrangements in the wake of Cum-Ex , LuxLeaks and Panamapapers as excessive with regard to the work of the tax advisor. “99 percent of the tax advisory and auditing professions and taxpayers are not involved in critical models. An entire profession should not be criminalized because of fewer black sheep ”. Also with a view to a possible reporting obligation for domestic tax arrangements, Elster warned several times in the past that tax advisors are not the “repair department” of the legislature.

Property tax reform

The property tax reform covers around 35 million properties across Germany. Elster warned against an overly complex reform as it would lead to a high need for advice for many taxpayers. According to Elster's estimates, each tax advisor will have around 400 property valuations, which is likely to be a challenge, especially for small and medium-sized law firms in view of the shortage of junior staff.

Infringement Procedure

The EU Commission since 2018 called on the Federal Government on the reservation tasks in Steuerberatungsgesetz to revise. She considers the provisions of the reservation tasks to be “incoherent” and “disproportionate”. Ultimately, the infringement proceedings initiated by the EU Commission aim to liberalize the tax advisory market. DStV President Elster sees the Commission's request as an attack on the profession. "After the EU Commission threatens to fail with the service package, this time it is fundamentally questioning the reserved tasks of the tax advisory profession".

Whistleblower Policy

Elster sharply criticizes the EU directive adopted in 2019 for uniform, Europe-wide protection of whistleblowers with regard to the different standards of confidentiality obligations of tax advisors and tax advisory lawyers. “It is incomprehensible that a distinction is being introduced at the European level between the legal obligation of confidentiality and the confidentiality obligations of tax advisors and auditors. It is obvious that this will lead to practical problems in Germany ”.

literature

• Elster, Harald: A profession takes its fate into its own hands. In: 30 Years of German Unity "We were there" , 2019 Reinbek.

Web links

• Homepage of the Elster & Dietrich law firm
• Portrait on the website of the German Association of Tax Consultants

Footnotes

1. ^ Deutscher Steuerberaterverband eV - The new head of the DStV: WP / StB Harald Elster! Retrieved February 10, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Rapidly tackle tax reforms. Retrieved February 10, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Copyright Haufe-Lexware GmbH & Co KG - all rights reserved: 39th German Tax Consultant Conference in Dresden | Taxes | Heap. Retrieved February 10, 2020 . 
4. ^ Property tax reform: a mammoth task. Retrieved February 10, 2020 . 
5. ↑ Deutscher Steuerberaterverband eV - EU Commission takes the provisional task of tax consultants. Retrieved February 10, 2020 . 
6. ^ Deutscher Steuerberaterverband eV - Confidentiality in danger! - European Parliament adopts whistleblower directive. Retrieved February 10, 2020 . 
7. ↑ 30 Years of German Unity - "We were there" - Ferdinand Bitz; Claus J. Duisberg; Harald Elster; Rainer Eppelmann; Ferdinand Bitz - 9783957682055 - Schweitzer Online. Retrieved February 10, 2020 .