Tax advice
Tax advice is business-like assistance in matters of tax law. Tax advice is part of legal advice; the associated professional tasks serve the administration of tax law, an important common good.
The admissibility of tax advice is regulated in the Tax Advice Act (StBerG).
§ 1 StBerG defines the area of tax law matters.
According to § 3 StBerG, unlimited commercial assistance in tax matters is only permitted to tax advisors , tax agents , lawyers , auditors and sworn accountants . The authorization to provide legal assistance in tax matters may be included in the approval of chamber legal advisers and litigation agents. Counseling can also be provided by companies formed by these professionals.
As an alternative to tax consultants, there are also wage tax aid associations for employees, which are allowed to provide help in tax matters as part of membership. This is regulated in § 4 No. 11 of the StBerG. The consultation is free of charge, but membership fees have to be paid.
Members of the United Services Union, on the other hand, can have their union's income tax service prepare their tax return free of charge.
The regulations of the Tax Advisory Act represent a state restriction of the freedom of occupation ( Art. 12, Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law), similar to the compulsory master craftsman. The legislature justifies this restriction of occupational freedom with the protection of an important common good, namely the safeguarding of tax revenue. The necessity of such a state intervention is judged differently within Europe and occasionally offers material for discussion in the legislation, which is focused by the chambers of tax advisors on the one hand and by the professional associations of accountants on the other hand.
Web links
- Link catalog on tax advice at curlie.org (formerly DMOZ )
- List of tax advisors in the area
Individual evidence
- ↑ BVerfG decision of January 27, 1982 (1 BvR 807/80) BStBl. 1982 II p. 281
- ^ Daniela Hesse, Tax return is also cheap , Westdeutsche Zeitung , May 11, 2010