Die leichtfertige Steuerverkürzung

The typical division of tasks between the taxpayer and his tax advisor when preparing a tax return challenges criminal law and the law on administrative offences. Carolin Langlitz uses the offence of reckless tax evasion to examine the extent to which criminal law and the law on administrative offences are up to these challenges. The focus is on the equally practice-relevant and theoretically challenging question of liability in the event that the advisor, who merely acts in relation to the taxpayer, recklessly prepares an erroneous declaration that leads to a tax evasion. After analysing the case law to date on the basis of the applicable doctrine of culpability, the author arrives at the conclusion of exoneration under the law on fines and questions its appropriateness in the context of reform considerations.