INTERDISCIPLINARY SERVICES

Our strength is the close integration of our experiences and expertise in providing tax, legal and economic advice to our clients. This does not only include the classic services in the fields of tax, auditing and law.

The processing of the classical tasks gives us insights into weak points and potentials, which can be identified and thus be lead to a solution.

For this, we make use of the versatile qualifications in our firm to find the optimal solutions for our clients. Many different subject areas are covered by the interdisciplinary orientation of our partnership. Often complex facts have to be analyzed and problems have to be solved or designed, where a simple qualification as a tax consultant, auditor or lawyer reaches its limits.

Our experience and the high level of client satisfaction have shown that successful consulting and structuring is based on the good cooperation of professionals from different fields of law and double qualification.

We would like to present some of these topics as examples and give an overview of the interaction of our individual competences.

Start-up consulting

Which legal form is the right one for my business? Which tax consequences does the legal form have for me and any new shareholders? Do I need a limitation of liability? How much starting capital do I need and how can I finance my project? Do I need to register with the tax office or any other authorities? And if so, what exactly needs to be done?

When founding a company, a lot of questions concerning business, tax and law will arise. We can answer all of them in-house. We also help developing your business plan and support you in meetings with your bank. In order to implement individual drafts, we are also networked with notaries.

Tax consultancy

  • Development of business plans
  • Support with official registrations; e.g. with the tax office or social insurance agency
  • Preparation and accompaniment to discussions with the bank

Auditing

  • Certification and plausibility checks of business plans
  • Brand, patent and license valuation
  • Audit of contributions in kind

Legal advice

  • Organization of business start-ups and restructuring
  • Articles of Association, choice of legal form, choice of structure for operational business and asset allocation
  • Development and modification of all necessary draft contracts

Company Succession

Entrepreneurs are often faced with the question: What will happen in the long term? Who will manage the company after me? How long do I want to be self-employed? How do I involve the next generation?

We support you in planning your succession by developing a concept which aims to implement your wishes. We show you possibilities and work out a concept with you and your relatives in order to financially secure the transferring generation and gradually involve the younger generation. Throughout, income and gift taxations will be taken into account. We will also consider other aspects of tax law and draft contracts or last wills accordingly, realising your wishes.

If there is no successor in your family, we will design concepts for the participation of employees in return for payment or of external purchasers.

Tax consultancy

  • Consideration of income and gift tax framework
  • Consideration of the income tax situation; e.g. operational split and avoidance of tax realization in case of the lack of liquidity inflow
  • Tax burden comparisons in succession planning

Auditing

  • Business valuation as consultant or expert
  • Preparation or audit of interim financial statements
  • Business management consulting and analyses



Legal advice

  • Development and amendment of contract drafts; including donation contracts, testaments, patient decree, power of attorney for guardianship, healthcare proxy
  • Consolidation of fragile structures, such as special business assets or company splits in order to avoid accidental tax realisation

M&A transactions

The purchase or sale of a company requires consultation regarding tax and law and regularly involves auditors as well. Consultation might start with strategic planning and the assessment of the general conditions regarding business, tax and law (Due Diligence). Important legal and tax aspects need to be depicted clearly and economical risks need to be negotiated and be correctly implemented in contracts. In our experience, errors can occur quickly, if the results of a Due Diligence or prior negotiations are not regulated unambiguously in the final contract.

Tax consultancy

  • Accompanying tax due diligence (check for tax risks)
  • Purchase price allocation to create clear structures for capitalization and depreciation in commercial and tax law






Auditing

  • Examination of corporate memorandums and corporate plans used to determine the purchase price
  • Audit of annual and interim financial statements
  • Valuation of companies, parts of companies and investments



Legal advice

  • Support for legal due diligence (check for legal risks)
  • Development and modification of all necessary contracts; both for the practices of freelancers and for corporate transactions
  • Development of contracts for structural changes in companies (mergers, spin-offs, demergers, real divisions, contributions and changes of legal form)

Restructuring

Companies experiencing financial difficulties need a wide array of consulting services. On the one hand, it is a matter of repositioning the company and manoeuvering it out of the crisis. This requires exact and up-to-date figures, in order to immediately detect deviations between actual and planned figures and to act accordingly. Additionally, negotiations with banks regarding financing, prolongations or debt reliefs are needed on a regular basis. Furthermore, individual creditors or even shareholders are frequently willing to stabilize the company in the crisis by deferrals, subordination or waivers. Tax consequences of such reorganization measures must be precisely determined in advance to avoid unintentional tax realisations.

Tax consultancy

  • Avoidance of tax realization in the Restructuring phase; e.g. creditor waivers, subordination
  • Avoidance of the loss of tax loss carryforwards
  • Avoidance of the disclosure of hidden reserves during restructuring


Auditing

  • Audit reviews of earnings and liquidity plans
  • Creation of a restructuring concept
  • Assessment of the existence of reasons for opening insolvency proceedings



Legal advice

  • Accompaniment of contracts for new/refinancing
  • Accompaniment of restructuring transactions
  • Conducting negotiations; e.g. for deferrals, partial waivers, instalment of payment plans
  • Adjustment of the structure as well as examination of contestation- and liability risks

Criminal tax law

Criminal tax law is an area in which we as tax consultants, lawyers and tax law specialists are able to maintain an overview for you. A purely tax-related discussion, without consideration of the point of criminal intent, is just as ineffective as a purely legal argumentation, without knowing whether the claim for back taxes claimed by the tax authorities actually exists. Due to our interdisciplinary approach, we are proficient in substantive tax law and criminal tax law and can thus provide you with the best possible support in the event of criminal tax proceedings.

Tax consultancy

  • Expert opinions on tax law issues
  • Advice on subsequent declarations / self-disclosures
  • Concepts and guidelines for the detection of criminal tax law risks in the company



Legal advice

  • Expert opinions on criminal law issues
  • Defense of tax offences
  • Criminal law preventive consulting
  • Notifications in ongoing criminal tax proceedings
  • Appeals against search, seizure, arrest and forfeiture