Steuerberater

Steuerberater (StB) is the professional license for tax advisors in Germany.

The provision of tax advisory services is restricted and basically permissible for Steuerberater only according to German law. In order to obtain this qualification, an individual must pass the Steuerberaterprüfung, a special uniform nationwide state examination. Merely being qualified as an attorney at law is not sufficient.

A similar license exists in Austria, please refer to Steuerberater (Austria).

The Steuerberaterprüfung is a uniform nationwide state examination, the passing of which is normally the necessary condition for the appointment as German certified tax advisor (Steuerberater).

The exam includes a written part (with three exams of 6 hours each) and an oral examination. The written part of the Steuerberaterprüfung is held once every year in the beginning of the month of October.

The Steuerberaterprüfung is considered one of the toughest and prestigious professional examinations in Germany, often compared with full university law studies, with the difference that examinees prepare for the Steuerberaterprüfung alongside their regular occupation (e.g. in the evenings or on weekends). Registration for the Steuerberaterprüfung is possible only if candidates already have considerable professional experience and technical knowledge (2 – 10 years, depending on educational background—see below).

The preparation time is usually long (2 – 3 years), whereby a full release from professional duties for approx. 4 – 5 months preceding the date of examination is common practice in many tax advisory firms. During this preparation time, most examinees attend to professional courses, tutorials and/or mock exam events to gear up for the real examinations. Notably, certain providers even offer dedicated training camps in preparation for the Steuerberaterprüfung.

Yet, despite the high qualification of examiness and the considerable technical and financial effort made by most candidates, the Steuerberaterprüfung is distinguished by a very low passing rate: Based on the longterm average, the pass rate usually is at about 40% only with reference to all candidates registered for the exams and still at about 50% only with reference to those candidates who registered for the exams, appeared on the date of exams and effectively submitted their solutions to the exam board for review.

Given the low passing rate, a considerable number of examinees is typically resit candidates. Notably, the permitted number of resits in case of failure is limited to 2 only.

The low passing rates are often criticized, however, the fiscal authorities and the Chamber of Tax Advisers defend their practice with high quality standards.

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Wikipedia