15. June 2022
International legal assistance in tax criminal cases
On June 15, 2022, the Federal Ministry of Finance published an information sheet on international legal assistance in tax criminal matters (https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/Downloads/BMF_Schreiben/Internationales_Steuerrecht/Allgemeine_Informationen/2022-06-15-Merkblatt-Internationale-Rechtshilfe-Steuerstrafsachen.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=2).
This information sheet contains not only administrative guidelines for outgoing requests for legal assistance in tax criminal matters, but also for the procedures for incoming requests and for asset recovery.
The list of countries outlines the legal bases for tax-related legal assistance in the respective countries concerned. In addition to the member states of the European Union, mutual legal assistance agreements in tax criminal matters exist with numerous other countries, such as Turkey, Andorra, Liechtenstein, the Caribbean islands, and the British Channel Islands.
The bilateral agreement with Hong Kong was suspended by Hong Kong upon notification on November 5, 2020. The Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with Dominica in the eastern Caribbean has not yet entered into force.
Anyone wishing to learn which countries have mutual legal assistance agreements, what powers German officials have abroad, and how foreign requests for mutual legal assistance are supported domestically can find the relevant information here.