Tax advisor examination
The tax advisor examination is a nationwide uniform state examination, the passing of which is usually a necessary condition for the appointment as a tax advisor .
With the examination, the candidate must demonstrate that he is able to properly exercise the profession of tax advisor. The examination is divided into a written part consisting of three supervisory papers and an oral examination.
Level of difficulty
The tax advisor exam is one of the toughest professional exams in Germany. On average over many years, around half of the applicants across Germany fail. In relation to the number of candidates admitted to the exam, only around 40% pass the exam.
The chambers of tax consultants defend the failure rate with their high quality standards: the tax consultant has a responsible job, so all candidates must be put through their paces.
Organization and responsibility
The written part of the examination takes place nationwide once a year in October, while oral exams take place between January and April (depending on the federal state).
The exact time at which the written part of the examination is carried out, the examination tasks of the supervisory work, the processing time and the aids permitted for the written part of the examination are jointly determined by the supreme financial authorities of the federal states responsible for financial management.
Admission to the examination, exemption from the examination and the organizational implementation of the examination have been the tasks of the competent chambers of tax advisors in the federal states since 2009. The acceptance of the examination is the task of the examination committee, which is to be formed at the highest state authority responsible for financial management (e.g. Ministry of Finance or Regional Finance Directorate).
Exam areas
Examination areas of the tax advisor examination are according to Section 37 (3) StBerG:
- Tax procedural law,
- Taxes on income and earnings,
- Valuation law, inheritance tax and property tax ,
- Excise taxes and transfer taxes , basic features of customs law
- Commercial Law and Principles of the Civil Law, the Company Law , the bankruptcy law and justice, the European Community,
- Business administration and accounting ,
- Economics ,
- Professional law.
Exam admission
The admission to the tax advisor examination can take place in several ways.
Certain professional groups (e.g. professors of tax law, experienced tax officials, former tax judges, etc.) can also be exempted from the examination (Section 38 StBerG).
University graduates
Admission to the tax advisor examination requires that the applicant,
- has successfully completed a university degree in economics or law or another university degree with a specialization in economics and
- then worked practically.
The practical activity must have been carried out over a period of at least three years if the standard period of study for university studies is less than four years, otherwise over a period of at least two years.
It should be noted that a distinction is no longer made between university and technical college. The only decisive factor is the standard period of study for the course. Degree programs at the Berufsakademie have a standard study period of less than eight semesters. However, they are considered to be studies within the meaning of the StBerG. In view of the short training period, practical work experience after graduation takes at least three years.
Other contenders
An applicant is also to be admitted to the tax advisor examination if he
- has passed a final examination in a commercial apprenticeship or has another equivalent qualification and has worked for eight years after completing the apprenticeship or, in the case of the successfully passed examination to become a certified accountant or tax specialist, six years or
- belonged or belonged to the tax authorities as a senior civil servant or as a comparable employee and worked for at least seven years as a clerk or in at least an equivalent position.
Examination Board
The tax advisor examination must be taken before an examination committee formed by the highest state authority responsible for financial administration. This includes three civil servants of the higher service or comparable employees of the financial administration, one of them as chairman, as well as three tax advisors or two tax advisors and a representative of the economy.
The members of the examination board and their deputies are generally appointed for three years by the supreme state authority responsible for financial management. You can only be recalled for an important reason. In the event of early resignation or dismissal, the successor will only be appointed for the remainder of the term of office of the resigned or dismissed member or deputy.
The examination board decides with a majority of votes. In the event of a tie, the chairman's vote is decisive.
The members of the examination board have the right to inspect the candidates' admission and examination documents. They must maintain secrecy about the facts that have become known to them during their work.
The members of the audit committee who are not civil servants or employees of the financial administration are to be obliged by the chairman of the committee to conscientiously fulfill their duties. The members of the examination board are not bound by instructions.
Conducting the exams
The examinations and the deliberations of the examination board are not public. Representatives of the highest state authority responsible for financial management and the board of the responsible Chamber of Tax Advisors can take part in the oral examination. The chairman of the examination board can allow other persons to be present.
Written exam
The written examination consists of three supervisory papers.
Two supervisory tasks are the audit areas according to § 37 Paragraph 3 No. 1 to 4 of the Tax Consultancy Act (tax procedural law, tax criminal and tax offenses law, valuation law, inheritance tax, property tax, consumption and transaction taxes, basic features of customs law and income tax law, in particular income tax law, corporate tax law and trade tax law ) and to take a supervisory work in the areas of bookkeeping and accounting.
The duration of the three supervisory tasks is a minimum of four and a maximum of six hours (§ 18 Paragraph 1 DVStB), whereby i. d. Usually six hours are set. They are to be written on three consecutive days.
Oral exam
The oral examination consists of a short presentation and six examination sections covering all examination areas according to Section 37 (3) of the Tax Advisory Act. The presentation and each section of the examination are assessed separately; An overall oral grade is then formed from all grades.
The oral exam lasts around five to six hours, with four candidates being examined together as a rule.
The oral part of the examination is taken before the examination board. Immediately after the oral examination, the examination board will discuss the result of the examination.
Assessment of the tax advisor examination
The school grades very good (1.0) to unsatisfactory (6.0) are provided for the evaluation of the individual examination performances . Total grades are calculated from the sum of the individual grades divided by their number. The result is to be calculated to two decimal places; the third decimal place is not taken into account.
The oral examination - as the second part of the tax advisor examination - is only admitted whose performance has been rated at least 4.50 in the written examination (Section 25 (2) DVStB).
The exam is passed if the total of the total grades for the written and oral exam divided by two does not exceed 4.15. The chairman then informs the applicants whether they have passed the examination according to the decision of the examination board; in this respect, he acts as a representative of the highest state authority responsible for financial management.
Grades are not given on the examination certificates.
Failure of an examination attempt
If a candidate fails the examination attempt, the tax advisor examination can be repeated. However, it can only be repeated twice.
Re-approval is required for repetition.
resignation
The applicant can withdraw from the examination up to the end of the processing time of the last supervisory work by declaring to the responsible Chamber of Tax Advisors or the supervisor. A resignation is also valid if the applicant does not appear for one of the supervisory work.
In the event of withdrawal, the exam is deemed not to have been taken. This enables the examinee to avoid a failure of his examination attempt if his / her own assessment of his / her exams has been poor. The constitutionality of this candidate-friendly regulation is controversial.
If the tax advisor examination is repeated after withdrawal, the entire examination must be taken again.
Additional qualification
After passing the tax advisor exam and having been appointed for at least three years, further training to become a specialist advisor for international tax law and a specialist advisor for customs duties and excise taxes is possible. The title of specialist advisor may only be used together with the title of tax advisor.
Austria
The Chamber of Tax Consultants and Auditors (KSW) is responsible for Austrian tax advisors and auditors. She is solely responsible for holding the examinations for tax advisor and auditor as well as for granting professional authorization.
In order to work as a tax consultant or auditor in Austria, you must have successfully completed a relevant university or technical college degree, proof of at least three years of work as a trainee for a tax consultant or auditor and successfully passed specialist examinations. “Admission to the specialist examinations is possible after 18 months of internship. After successfully passing the specialist examination, you can only be sworn in as a tax advisor or sworn in as an auditor after a total of three years of trainee internship. The trainee period starts when you register with the Chamber of Tax Consultants and Auditors ”.
Web links
- Germany
- Federal Chamber of Tax Advisors on bstbk.de
- Deutscher Steuerberaterverband eV on dstv.de
- Interview points about the failure rate in the tax advisor examination
- Tax Advisory Act on gesetze-im-internet.de
- Mission statement of the tax advisory profession on Steuerberater-perspektiven.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Germany's most difficult final test, KarriereSPIEGEL
- ↑ Endurance test for tax advisor karriere.de
- ↑ The withdrawal regulations in the tax advisor examination . Carpenter. February 5, 1998. Archived from the original on November 13, 2014. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
- ↑ Specialist advisor regulations in the version of March 28, 2007 (DStR 2007, p. 1274), last amended by resolution of the Articles of Association of September 8, 2010 (DStR 2010, p. 2663)
- ↑ ksw.or.at Retrieved July 8, 2020.
