Germany’s two largest car parts suppliers seem to be heading for a showdown. It recently became public that Continental’s banks want to stop merger talks with Schaeffler in order to gain more control of the company through a capital increase. The move is seen as an assault on Continue →

The Act on the Combat of Tax Fraud, which recently passed the German Bundesrat, empowers the German federal government to specify the information duties which taxpayers must fulfil in order to be granted tax relief or deductibility of expenses when dealing with tax haven states.

The federal government has now published the draft of a regulation which sets forth these duties. The regulation does not Continue →

The debt-ridden sports car maker Porsche scheduled an extraordinary supervisory board meeting for 23 July 2009 to debate two rival rescue plans for the company: either a possible investment by the Qatar Investment Authority or the sale of a 49 % stake in Porsche to Volkswagen.

The move came after Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking agreed with Qatar on an outline plan under which Continue →

On 10 July 2009, the German Bundesrat held its last meeting before the summer break. Since Germany is facing federal elections in late September, this session potentially represented the current government’s last chance to pass the draft laws which it has submitted in the past few months. Therefore, the meeting held on 10 July 2009 was a marathon session involving voting on 62 different laws.

Among these draft laws were the German Act on the Combat of Tax Fraud, which increases a taxpayer’s duty to provide information in regard to transactions involving tax havens or the placing of funds in such countries. If certain requirements are not met, the taxpayer may face Continue →

Yesterday, the German economics ministry reported a growth in orders for German industry of a surprising 4.4 % in May 2009 over April 2009. Steel industry companies and medium-sized entities are also in a good mood at the moment. The job market and state budgets, however, remain problematic.

While orders from inside Germany grew by 3.9 % compared to April, foreign orders Continue →

The 2009 Annual Tax Law Act, which came into force on 1 January 2009, contains a provision which allows enterprises to relocate their electronic bookkeeping abroad. For such relocation to be accepted, the following conditions must be met: Continue →

Yesterday, 30 June 2009, the German Constitutional Court rejected two challenges, brought by groups of right- and left-wing parliamentarians, against the German legislative act which would ratify the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty saying there were “no decisive constitutional objections to the act approving the Treaty of Lisbon”. Horst Köhler, the German president, had refused to sign the ratification act until after the court’s ruling.

Although the German Constitutional Court rejected the claims Continue →

On 23 June 2009 ministers and senior officials of 19 countries came together in Berlin to review the progress that has been made with respect to the implementation of the OECD standards on transparency and the exchange of information in tax matters since their last meeting on 21 October 2008 in Paris.

An English summary of the outcome of the conference can be found here.

The following are the most important aspects as well as future objectives of the conference Continue →

Among other things, the Citizen Relief Act amends the so-called Mantelkauf regulation, which places various restrictions on the use of the loss carry-forwards of companies acquired in share-purchase arrangements. For general information regarding the main regulation, please see our last blog entry from 5 June 2009.

The amendment to the regulation would implement a restructuring clause, initially valid for two years, which Continue →

The global economic crisis is hitting Germany, the so-called ”world export champion“, hard. German exports experienced a downturn of 21.9 % in the first quarter of 2009, compared to the first quarter of 2008. In fourth quarter 2008 the slowdown was only 6 %. Continue →