Germany Adopts New External Audit Regulations to Modernize Tax Audits

• Germany’s Federal Cabinet approved new External Audit Regulations to replace the 2000 Tax Audit Ordinance and align with updated tax procedure law, including the DAC7 Implementation Act.
• The reform is meant to make tax audits faster, better coordinated, and more risk-focused, with clearer rules for cooperation between taxpayers and tax authorities.
• It updates group audit rules, strengthening the lead group auditor’s coordination role, and adds guidance on coordinated external payroll tax audits.
• The separate rule on “timely audits” will be removed because timeliness is now treated as a general objective in all audit cases.
• The regulation still needs Bundesrat approval and will enter into force the day after publication.

Source: fiscal-requirements.com

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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