From July 1, 2023, the Act on the Unification of Foundation Law will come into force, bringing together, supplementing and clarifying many previously unclear, contradictory or incomplete points in foundation law. In addition to new, uniform federal regulations, the reform also includes the introduction of a central foundation register. The changes are intended to provide greater legal certainty in matters of liability,
Continue ReadingCategory: Legal advice
Tax-privileged fringe benefits: How companies can score points in the battle for satisfied employees
Everyone is talking about a shortage of skilled workers – but what can companies do to retain good employees in the long term? In addition to a good working atmosphere, performance-related pay is of course a very important factor. However, more than half of every euro of a salary increase often goes to taxes and social security contributions.
Continue ReadingWorking time recording & trust-based working time: will it still work in the future?
At the end of 2022, the German Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht – BAG) issued a landmark ruling stating that recording working hours is no longer a “can” but a “must”. Employers must – even now! – record the working hours of their employees. For new-work models based on trust-based working time,
Continue ReadingBitcoin & Co: BFH rules crypto profits are taxable! What do crypto investors need to know now?
With the decision of the Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof, BFH) of February 28, 2023, the highest German fiscal court has now for the first time taken a position on income tax issues relating to crypto assets – Bitcoins and Co.
In it, the previously issued fiscal court decisions are followed and also essential excerpts of the BMF letter of May 10,
Continue ReadingChild benefit evaded? Criminal charges for tax evasion can be the consequence!
Under certain conditions, parents in Germany are entitled to child benefit. As of January 1, 2023, the entitlement to child benefit is a uniform 250 euros per month and child and is paid out to parents by the family benefits office. So far, so good.
But if the family benefits office pays out child benefits even though parents are not (or no longer) entitled to them,
Continue ReadingReal estate valuation newly regulated – higher inheritance tax and gift tax for real estate since 01.01.2023
Real estate valuation in the event of a gift or inheritance has always been a bone of contention. Now, the legislator has reformed the Valuation Act – and with significant effects on the calculation of inheritance tax and gift tax in connection with real estate. This is because the value of real estate has been determined on the basis of the market value for the calculation of gift and inheritance tax since the changes to the law on 01.01.2009.
Continue ReadingFederal Labor Court (BAG) ruling: Vacation is only time-barred after notice from the employer
Whether and when vacation becomes time-barred is a question that can of course also be of burning interest to employers: After all, whether their own employees are still entitled to vacation or not can become relevant above all if an employee leaves the company and in this context asserts claims for vacation compensation.
Continue ReadingInflation compensation premium: what employers need to know now!
The inflation compensation premium is currently the talk of the town. After all, it gives employees hope that they will receive a payment of up to 3,000 euros from their employer to compensate for the current rapid inflation – tax-free and free of social security contributions.
What is correct is that employers have the option of paying employees an inflation compensation bonus.
Continue ReadingAll around the mini-job! Current labour law
From 01 October 2022, the statutory minimum wage will increase to EUR 12 per hour. At the same time, the remuneration for mini-jobs will be increased from EUR 450 to EUR 520 per month.
In connection with the mini-job, there are a number of things to consider from an employment law perspective.
Continue ReadingBureaucratic monster for employers? Employment contracts must comply with stricter requirements as of 1 August
Evidence Act: Employment contracts must be put to the test with regard to mandatory transparent working conditions
From 1 August 2022, the amended regulations of the Verification Act will apply. The background to this is the EU Directive 2019/1152 (Working Conditions Directive), which comes into force on 31 July 2019.
Continue ReadingInheriting debts: what you can do to prevent this from happening!
An inheritance – despite all the personal tragedy – is often a financial blessing for the heirs. Never before has so much wealth been inherited in Germany as at present. However, there is also the other case: the testator or the testatrix – e.g. one’s own parents or spouse –
Continue ReadingThe GbR company register is coming: clarify now what needs to be done!
Information about a GbR and the persons behind the GbR has not been as easy to obtain as, for example, in the case of a GmbH.
This will change on 01.01.2024 when the Act to Modernise the Law on Partnerships (MoPeG) introduces the company register for civil law companies.
Continue ReadingCurrent BAG ruling on overtime: Burden of proof not on the employer!
Overtime and its compensation are often the cause of disputes between employees and employers. This is especially true when overtime is still “on the books” after a dismissal and ex-employees want to be paid for this overtime.
But who has to prove whether overtime was actually worked? So far,
Continue ReadingSecretly recording a conversation at the workplace: Can employees be dismissed (without notice)?
Discussions between employers or supervisors and employees are often delicate. If conflicts are smouldering or have already erupted in the working relationship, they can become very verbal.
It is not uncommon for employees to reach for their smartphones and secretly record conversations with their employers or superiors that are supposed to be confidential.
Continue ReadingLabour law: current case studies and judgments
Read the background and rulings on exciting issues that concern employees and employers alike:
- What happens to already granted leave during a quarantine order?
- Dismissal without notice even in the case of embezzlement of low-value amounts?
- Dismissal without notice for reading and passing on someone else’s e-mail?
Transparency register & GmbH: Entry until 30.06. – fine threatens
GmbHs and UGs must correctly enter beneficial owners in the transparency register by June 30, 2022. Otherwise, those responsible will face heavy fines.
Read more about the transparency register and the registration deadline.
Continue ReadingCrypto, NFT, virtual currencies and other tokens: what does the current BMF letter say?
The new BMF letter “Einzelfragen zur ertragsteuerrechtlichen Behandlung von virtuellen Währungen und von sonstigen Token” has meanwhile also been published. Below you will find my brief and initial assessment of the letter of the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF).
Our expert Dr.
Continue ReadingIncome tax return 2021: How do I take my crypto investments into account?
With an estimated 5,000,000 people in Germany investing in the crypto world, many will soon be asking the question, “How do I account for my crypto investments in my 2021 income tax return?” Some individuals will have to make sometimes substantial tax payments as a result of their crypto investments and will thus also be required to file an income tax return in due time.
Continue ReadingFacility-based mandatory vaccination: individual consultation hours for your employees
Compulsory vaccination for healthcare workers is currently the talk of the town and the subject of heated debate. In fact, there are still employees who do not want to be vaccinated against the coronavirus – even in health-sensitive professions. Whether employers understand this or not is a moot point.
Continue ReadingReminder! Expiry of the transitional periods for entry in the transparency register
Have you already notified the beneficial owners of your legal entity to the Transparency Register? Not yet? Then it is high time you did!
With the amendments to the Money Laundering Act (Transparency Register and Financial Information Act) that came into force on 1 August 2021,
Continue ReadingAre profits from cryptocurrency trading subject to tax? Revision BFH withdrawn
The BFH (Case No. IX R 27/21), Germany’s highest tax court, was supposed to deal with this question; a decision was expected in February. This has now come to nothing. The appeal filed by the taxpayer has been withdrawn in the meantime.
With increasing crypto trading,
Continue ReadingReduction of holiday due to short-time work? Current labour law
An interesting question, especially in Corona times:
Is the holiday entitlement automatically reduced due to short-time work? Or is an individual agreement with the employee or a company agreement necessary? This has been controversial until now.
Now the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) has eliminated this legal uncertainty.
Continue ReadingThe ACCONSIS Future Workshop turns 3 – Happy Birthday!
The Future Workshop is our digital workbench for new solutions!
On the occasion of the 3rd anniversary of the ACCONSIS Future Workshop (ZKW), we asked Stefan Herzer, member of the Executive Board and responsible for organization and digitalisation at ACCONSIS, for an interview.
We were particularly interested in how the idea of the Future Workshop came about,
Continue ReadingTax havens defense law – Turkey still not on EU ‘black list’
Recently, there has been an increase in the number of reports regarding measures to combat tax evasion in Germany. The German tax authorities are using a wide variety of tools for this purpose. Data CDs from third countries continue to be purchased, most recently tax data from Dubai. At the same time,
Continue ReadingWhat is the right of first refusal for municipalities?
The municipality can only exercise the right of first refusal for a property in certain cases if it lies within the scope of a preservation order.
In a ruling dated 09.11.2021 – 4 C 1.20, the Federal Administrative Court ruled that a municipality’s right of first refusal for a plot of land located within the scope of an urban development ordinance does not exist if the plot of land is built on and used in accordance with the purposes of the urban development measures and the buildings erected on it do not have any defects.
Continue ReadingDo you speak “crypto” yet?
“Do you have a wallet yet?” or “Has the transaction been entered into the blockchain?” Do you even understand what they’re saying? If you intend to dive into the digital world to do business, you really have no choice but to learn a new “foreign language”: the language of digital commerce.
Continue ReadingStandard land values: The current development in Munich
ATTENTION: New standard land values as of 01.01.2022 – further increases to be expected
Due to the implementation of the real estate tax reform, the expert committees have recently been instructed to set new standard land values as of 01.01.2022, in deviation from the two-year cycle (31.12.2022).
Continue ReadingCurrent case law on the certificate of incapacity for work
The Federal Labor Court recently had to rule on a case in which an employee gave notice of termination and submitted a certificate of incapacity for work to the employer on the same day as the notice of termination was received.
According to this certificate of incapacity for work,
Continue ReadingReal Estate Transfer Tax Reform: Tighter rules for the transfer of shares in real estate holding companies
On July 1, 2021, the Act Amending the Real Estate Transfer Tax Act will come into force. This contains extensive new regulations for the acquisition of shares in real estate holding partnerships and corporations.
Continue ReadingTax data from Dubai: tax authorities are currently evaluating sensitive data
The last prominent data acquisition was some time ago. Many may still remember the acquisition of bank information from Switzerland. The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia was particularly prominent in this regard. The data purchase was and is highly controversial and even involved the Federal Constitutional Court. The acquired information has flushed billions into the state coffers.
Continue ReadingFrom cryptocurrency to crypto art: seeing through digital returns
The Corona pandemic does have its positive sides: Thanks to it, digitalisation has progressed rapidly and has found its way into all areas of life. We now work mainly remotely, buy more online, and invest more in stocks. Moreover, it is still trendy to trade in cryptocurrency.
In this context,
Continue ReadingFight against time: Last chance to avoid prosecution in Germany by filing a voluntary declaration
Now the time has come. The final step on the part of Turkey has been taken. The agreement on the automatic exchange of information (AEOI), which Turkey ratified back in 2017, will now actually be implemented. The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, personally ordered the execution of the relevant decision by decree on May 31,
Continue ReadingLearn more about ACCONSIS: Annual report 2020
The ACCONSIS Annual Report 2020 is available. Read the latest on our figures, data and facts. We also give you many exciting insights into our strategic developments of the business areas and our visions for the future.
Continue ReadingCasual landlords – Airbnb & rental portals targeted by tax authorities!
Due to the greater response to the article “Airbnb – The tax office knows who you rented to last summer!” – we are once again expanding our comments to include the following points:
After we have so far dealt in particular with the issues surrounding the investigative measures of the German tax authorities and the resulting tax obligations or consequences under criminal tax law,
Continue ReadingAirbnb – The tax office knows who you rented to last summer!
The Bayerische Rundfunk reports on the topic of “Airbnb” in its article “Airbnb landlords targeted by tax investigators” on B5 aktuell and the BR24 app. Dr. Christopher Arendt, specialist tax lawyer at ACCONSIS explains:
- What led to the current situation? How can the tax office determine that I have generated income with Airbnb?
Dismissal protection proceedings: Does the employee have a duty to provide information regarding job offers?
A lawsuit by an employee against the employer to protect against dismissal is always accompanied by a high cost risk for the employer.
If it turns out at the end of the often lengthy proceedings that the termination was invalid, the employment relationship is not terminated. But what is much more serious is that the employer must pay the contractually owed remuneration,
Continue ReadingSurprise mail from the tax office – where did they get the information about my foreign account?
Today, the German tax office can access high-quality data on foreign accounts and systematically evaluate this data. The Federal Central Tax Office is currently evaluating 1.1 million messages from this data exchange.
We are currently experiencing the effects of implementing this data exchange.
After the first measures of data exchange on financial matters between European and non-European countries have already taken place in the past,
Continue ReadingQuarantine, who pays the salary?
The second wave is just rolling in – there is currently no improvement in sight. In this context the questions arise,
- whether the employer must continue to pay the remuneration during a quarantine
- whether he/she may be entitled to a refund or
- whether he also has to pay if the employee returns from a risk area.
Will Turkey become the new Switzerland?
To the topic data exchange (with Turkey) the Bavarian broadcast reports on the topic “tax evasion: Turkey also reports soon account data” on B5 aktuell, as well as the BR24 App.
The contribution is based on an interview on the current situation with Dr. Christopher Arendt, specialist lawyer for tax law of ACCONSIS in Munich.
Continue ReadingData exchange with Turkey: voluntary disclosure protects against prosecution
In the middle of this year, the Federal Ministry of Finance declared that the Automatic Exchange of Information (AIA) will be expanded to include new countries from autumn 2020. The focus will be on data exchange with Turkey.
We have therefore asked Dr. Christopher Arendt, attorney, tax law specialist and managing director of ACCONSIS in Munich,
Continue ReadingNo short-time work compensation without German company headquarters?
Recently, there has been an increasing number of inquiries from concerned clients who employ employees in Germany subject to social security contributions but do not have a registered office in Germany.
This is usually due to notifications from the German Employment Agency which, referring to the lack of a company seat in Germany,
Continue ReadingIs a reduction of holiday entitlement permitted during short-time work?
The “Covid-19” crisis is constantly presenting employees and employers with new challenges. One of the major current issues is the relationship between short-time work and holidays.
In order to avoid the loss of working hours, the remaining leave from the previous year must first be brought in. Now the question arises,
Continue ReadingThe next wave of voluntary declarations to the tax office is foreseeable!
Since 2014, 100 countries have committed themselves to exchange information from account holders among themselves in the framework of the Automatic Information Exchange (AIA). This OECD measure ensures greater transparency in international money transactions and, as seen in the example with Switzerland, has also resulted in numerous cases of voluntary disclosure to the tax authorities.
Continue Reading