Residence here, income there, assets spread across several countries: international tax law applies in exactly these situations. Most firms avoid the field. We have specialised in it and advise in four languages.
What matters is not your passport but your residence (§ 8 AO) and habitual abode (§ 9 AO). Anyone meeting either is subject to unlimited tax liability (§ 1 (1) EStG) — on their worldwide income. Anyone earning only German income without living here has limited liability (§ 1 (4) EStG). The distinction is delicate and, depending on the pattern of stay, can decide six-figure amounts per year.
Germany has concluded treaties with more than ninety countries. Each one governs individually, for employment income, dividends, capital gains or property, which state may tax; double taxation is avoided through exemption with progression proviso or through credit. In practice, the special cases shape day-to-day work — the Saving Clause on US income, the cross-border commuter rule with Switzerland, the flat-tax regime in Italy.
Anyone leaving Germany with a holding of one percent or more is treated as if they had sold their shares — without an actual sale, without liquidity. Since the 2022 reform, the tax is payable on application in seven interest-free annual instalments (generally against security, uniform for EU/EEA and third countries); on return within seven, or on application up to twelve, years it is eliminated retroactively. Anyone planning five years before departure has room to manoeuvre. Anyone calling three months beforehand does not.
Foreign company forms such as the US LLC raise demanding questions on the German side: entity classification, the risk of double taxation, CFC taxation under the Foreign Tax Act. We handle this German perspective in full and coordinate closely with the adviser in the respective country abroad — for US as well as British, Italian or Swiss constellations.
In a free initial consultation, we clarify which structure best fits your situation.
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