{"id":6219,"date":"2026-03-07T18:11:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T17:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ut-lawyer.de\/?page_id=6219"},"modified":"2026-03-14T19:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T18:04:14","slug":"when-tax-structures-are-considered-an-abuse-of-law","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/unkelbach-tomczak.law\/en\/insights\/when-tax-structures-are-considered-an-abuse-of-law\/","title":{"rendered":"When Tax Structures Are Considered an Abuse of Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tax plan\u00adning gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly pur\u00adsues legit\u00adi\u00admate eco\u00adnom\u00adic objec\u00adtives. In prac\u00adtice, how\u00adev\u00ader, tax author\u00adi\u00adties may con\u00adsid\u00ader a struc\u00adture to con\u00adsti\u00adtute an abuse of legal arrange\u00adments<\/strong> under Ger\u00adman tax law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In such sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions, the dis\u00adcus\u00adsion often moves beyond indi\u00advid\u00adual tax pro\u00advi\u00adsions and focus\u00ades instead on the over\u00adall legal and eco\u00adnom\u00adic assess\u00adment of the struc\u00adture<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key ques\u00adtion then becomes whether the struc\u00adture has a gen\u00aduine eco\u00adnom\u00adic ratio\u00adnale or whether it pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly serves tax purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this stage, a care\u00adful legal analy\u00adsis can help clar\u00adi\u00adfy the back\u00adground and rea\u00adson\u00ading of the struc\u00adture, explain the deci\u00adsion-mak\u00ading process and place the arrange\u00adment with\u00adin its legal framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The objec\u00adtive is not con\u00adfronta\u00adtion but a clear legal expla\u00adna\u00adtion of the struc\u00adture<\/strong>, ide\u00adal\u00adly before the dis\u00adcus\u00adsion esca\u00adlates into a fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal chal\u00adlenge to the arrange\u00adment itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In prac\u00adtice, sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions of this kind rarely arise from a sin\u00adgle iso\u00adlat\u00aded deci\u00adsion. Rather, they typ\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly result from a sequence of struc\u00adtur\u00adal steps \u2013 such as cor\u00adpo\u00adrate reor\u00adgan\u00adi\u00adsa\u00adtions, trans\u00adfers of assets or changes in share\u00adhold\u00adings \u2013 that may each appear legit\u00adi\u00admate when viewed indi\u00advid\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly. Only when the over\u00adall struc\u00adture is exam\u00adined in its eco\u00adnom\u00adic and legal con\u00adtext does the ques\u00adtion arise whether the arrange\u00adment still reflects a gen\u00aduine busi\u00adness purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This illus\u00adtrates why tax-dri\u00adven struc\u00adtur\u00ading should always be analysed not only from a tax per\u00adspec\u00adtive but also from a legal and struc\u00adtur\u00adal point of view. A care\u00adful legal assess\u00adment can often clar\u00adi\u00adfy whether a par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar struc\u00adture is defen\u00adsi\u00adble with\u00adin the exist\u00ading legal frame\u00adwork or whether adjust\u00adments may be advisable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fur\u00adther exam\u00adples of tax-influ\u00adenced cor\u00adpo\u00adrate struc\u00adtures are dis\u00adcussed under Tax-Dri\u00adven Cor\u00adpo\u00adrate Struc\u00adtures<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In prac\u00adtice, such dis\u00adcus\u00adsions often arise dur\u00ading tax audits<\/strong>, when cor\u00adpo\u00adrate struc\u00adtures are exam\u00adined more close\u00adly. This is dis\u00adcussed in \u201cWhen Tax Audits Raise Struc\u00adtur\u00adal Ques\u00adtions.<\/a>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2192 Con\u00adtact<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author:<\/strong> Sabine Unkel\u00adbach-Tom\u00adczak is a Ger\u00adman attor\u00adney (Recht\u00adsan\u00adw\u00e4ltin) and cer\u00adti\u00adfied spe\u00adcial\u00adist lawyer for tax law. Her advi\u00adso\u00adry work focus\u00ades on legal issues at the inter\u00adsec\u00adtion of tax law, cor\u00adpo\u00adrate law and cross-bor\u00adder mat\u00adters.
Learn more on the About<\/strong> <\/a>page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tax plan\u00adning gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly pur\u00adsues legit\u00adi\u00admate eco\u00adnom\u00adic objec\u00adtives. In prac\u00adtice, how\u00adev\u00ader, tax author\u00adi\u00adties may con\u00adsid\u00ader a struc\u00adture to con\u00adsti\u00adtute an abuse of legal arrange\u00adments under Ger\u00adman tax law. In such sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions, the dis\u00adcus\u00adsion often moves beyond indi\u00advid\u00adual tax pro\u00advi\u00adsions and focus\u00ades instead on the over\u00adall legal and eco\u00adnom\u00adic assess\u00adment of the struc\u00adture. The key ques\u00adtion then becomes [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":4551,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"When Tax Authorities Consider a Structure an Abuse of Law","_seopress_titles_desc":"When tax authorities question a structure as an abuse of law, the legal and economic assessment of the arrangement becomes decisive.","_seopress_robots_index":"","wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6219","page","type-page","status-publish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unkelbach-tomczak.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unkelbach-tomczak.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unkelbach-tomczak.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unkelbach-tomczak.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unkelbach-tomczak.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6219"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unkelbach-tomczak.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6755,"href":"https:\/\/unkelbach-tomczak.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6219\/revisions\/6755"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unkelbach-tomczak.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unkelbach-tomczak.law\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}