Oliver Biernat
The weather forecast did not promise anything good for Germany on 15 January 2023: “Today in the north-western half gale-force winds, with showers severe gale-force winds, at the North Sea gale-force winds”. Lucky me I took a plane to the Bahamas and not only enjoyed perfect weather there, but also met Mark Mirsky at the GGI ITPG Global Tax Summit. Why is this important for this newsletter? Mark had joined KRD Kutchins Robbins Diamond shortly before the event, and told me that he would be one of the main decision makers of that longstanding GGI member firm from Illinois. What do you do when you meet somebody for the first time? Right, you ask for money. I confronted Mark with the fact that Allen Kutchins at his firm had sponsored the ITPG newsletters for many of the past years and asked if he would continue to do the same. I do not think it took too many drinks to convince Mark as he was able to see immediately that this is a valuable tool for tax experts as it provides up to date tax information from many countries and is read by thousands of people. So, all I can say is “Welcome, Mark” and “Many Thanks, Allen” for being a loyal sponsor for so long.
Towards the end of the year many governments and tax authorities start publishing new tax rules. Often, they have shining names like the “Tax Relief Act”, the “Growth Opportunities Act”, the “Climate Protection Programme”, or even the “Law on the Avoidance of Value Added Tax Shortfalls”. When you try to read them, you will most probably face difficulties in understanding them, unless you are a lawyer or a chartered accountant. Sometimes the sentences are so long, the exceptions from the exceptions are so frequent, and the legal wording is so complicated that even those who are involved in writing them do not understand what they mean and make mistakes. Clever tax lawyers and chartered accountants can then use those legal loopholes for the benefit of their clients, but once the tax authorities notice that and it is used by too many taxpayers the loopholes are closed. What can be learnt from that? Make sure you can afford a good tax advisor who understands the law and knows about risks, compliances rules and loopholes. The authors of this edition of the GGI FYI International Taxation News did a fantastic job in this respect and have summarized the most important tax news for everyone. Many thanks to the authors, all of whom are members of the GGI International Taxation Practice Group (ITPG)!
Special thanks also to Barbara Reiss and the whole GGI team who provide a wonderful layout for the tax news and organized everything apart from the technical tax topics to make this newsletter appear slick and professional.
Do enjoy reading the articles in this edition of the GGI FYI International Taxation News.
Enjoy reading!
Oliver BiernatResponsible Editor & Global Chair of the GGI ITPG
GGI member firmBenefitax GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft WirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaftFrankfurt am Main, GermanyT: +49 69 256 227 60
Advisory, Auditing & Accounting,Corporate Finance, Fiduciary &Estate Planning, Tax
Benefitax GmbH is a tax consultancy and public auditing company located in Frankfurt, which is widely recognised as the financial centre of Germany. Benefitax predominantly serves German entities of foreign multinational groups, mid-sized German companies with cross-border activities and wealthy private individuals.
Oliver Biernat is Founder and Managing Partner of Benefitax. He is a German Chartered Accountant, Certified Tax Advisor and Specialist Advisor for International Taxation with more than 30 years of experience. Since 2008, he has chaired GGI’s International Taxation Practice Group (ITPG), increasing its size to more than 570 experts from 90 countries in the process. Contact Oliver.
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The information provided in this newsletter came from reliable sources and was prepared from data assumed to be correct. However, prior to making it the basis of a decision, this information must be verified. Ratings and assessments reflect the personal opinion of the respective author only. We neither accept liability for, nor are we able to guarantee, the content. This publication is for GGI internal use only and intended solely and exclusively for GGI members.
