Trusts under German Tax Law

In light of increasing global mobility, legal advice regarding trusts is becoming increasingly important in Germany as well. In their article in Steuerboard, Hanno Dassel and Dr. Michael Feldner outline the classification of trusts under German tax law. This process takes place in a two-step procedure, whereby the first step involves determining whether there is a comparable legal entity under German law for the trust, and the second step involves its classification under tax law. To this end, case law has developed a series of guiding questions in recent years.