VAT Compliance
Professional secrecy does not start with the engagement letter. It starts with your first message.
Businesses that contact us are often at an uncomfortable point: a German audit is running, an assessment has arrived, a supplier has vanished — or there is simply a bad feeling about a trading relationship. The same principle applies to all of these situations: the first step is low-threshold, confidential and commits you to nothing. Three ways are open. You choose how much you disclose.
One note for international readers up front: VSK conducts proceedings in Germany — for German and non-German companies alike. Correspondence, calls and working documents in English are standard practice.
Way 1: The emergency line — phone with a call-back promise
Acute situation? Call-back the same business day wherever possible. During a dawn raid, an unannounced VAT inspection, an asset freeze or any ongoing enforcement measure, the phone beats any form: +49 6204 9721 0. On business days you will receive a call-back from a qualified professional within 24 hours — in acute situations faster, same-day wherever possible. English-speaking callers are welcome.
On the phone we sort the situation first, not the question of fault: What is happening right now? Which deadlines are running? What should you do in the next hours — and what should you not do? What matters in the first 72 hours after a search is summarised on our emergency page.
Way 2: The confidential form
For non-acute matters, the form is the structured route. It asks only for what we need for an initial view:
- Name — optional if you choose the anonymous case outline (Way 3)
- Company — optional
- E-mail or phone — one of the two is enough; we need a reply channel
- Your role — managing director, CFO, head of tax/compliance, or adviser
- Your matter — selection: prevention · audit in progress · dawn raid/search · asset freeze / confiscation / asset security · assessment received · EPPO measure (European Public Prosecutor’s Office) · other
- Free text — optional; describe as much or as little as you wish
- Upload — optional, max. 10 MB (e.g. assessment, audit order, hearing letter)
- Data protection confirmation (GDPR)
Our promise: a response within 24 hours on business days — with an initial assessment and a concrete proposal for the next step. No automated reflex, no disclosure to third parties.
Way 3: The anonymous case outline
Some questions are delicate — because proceedings may be looming, because internal alignment is pending, or because you simply want to know first who you are dealing with. For these cases there is the anonymous case outline: the same form, but with no obligation to identify yourself. You describe the case in the abstract — sector, constellation, stage of proceedings — and provide only a neutral reply channel, for instance a dedicated e-mail address.
Why is this permissible? An initial, abstract assessment is not yet an engagement. Nothing in German professional law prevents us from giving a general view on an anonymised set of facts; identification becomes necessary only if an actual engagement is to be established — at that point, among other things, for the conflict check and under statutory identification duties. And why is it sensible? Because the alternative is usually silence. An honestly assessed anonymous outline is better than the question that is never asked out of caution. Many engagements begin exactly this way.
What happens after you submit — three steps
- Review and conflict check. Your message is read by a qualified professional — not a call centre. Before any substantive work we check for conflicts of interest; anonymous outlines are assessed in the abstract.
- Response within 24 hours on business days. You receive an initial view: How should the situation be classified? Which deadlines or immediate measures are visible? Which route — first consultation, quick scan, emergency mandate — fits your case?
- Your decision. Only if you wish does a confidential first consultation with Dr Fabian Keller follow — and only after that the question of an engagement. Until then you are committed to nothing.
The fastest route: a free 15-minute consultation
If you would rather have your situation assessed in conversation, take the shortcut: the VAT compliance consultation — 30 minutes, non-binding, anonymous on request. You describe. We assess. You know where you stand. No sales pitch, no follow-up obligation; professional secrecy applies from the first word. Afterwards you decide: do nothing, keep checking on your own — or go deeper. To book, use any of the three ways — the note “consultation” is enough.
If you prefer to check yourself first: three free self-checks — carousel resilience of your supply chain, red-flag recognition, audit and dawn-raid readiness of your business. The two go well together: many bring their self-check result to the consultation.
Confidentiality and data security
In plain words: German attorneys are bound by statutory professional secrecy (Section 43a(2) of the Federal Lawyers’ Act, BRAO) — and breaching it is a criminal offence (Section 203 of the German Criminal Code, StGB). This protection does not begin with a signed engagement; it already covers what you entrust to us when making contact. The same standard applies to German tax advisors (Section 57(1) of the Tax Advisory Act, StBerG). Your data is transmitted encrypted, processed solely to handle your enquiry (Art. 6 GDPR) and not passed to third parties. An anonymous outline stays anonymous — we do not attempt to identify senders.
Transparency on conditions
No cost traps, no fine print tactics: the first assessment via Ways 1 to 3 — review, initial view and a proposed next step — is non-binding. For an in-depth first consultation and all further services: . You will always know the conditions before any costs arise — in writing and without room for interpretation.
The hardest step is rarely the most expensive one. It is the first. We have made it as easy as professional law allows.
FAQ
Do I have to give my name?
No. The anonymous case outline exists precisely so that you can describe a constellation without identifying yourself. Identification becomes necessary only if the enquiry is to become an engagement — not before.
What does the first consultation cost?
The initial assessment of your enquiry (Ways 1–3) is non-binding. For the in-depth first consultation:. In every case you will know the conditions in advance and in writing — costs never arise unannounced.
How quickly will I hear back?
Within 24 hours on business days — by call-back or via the channel you named. Acute matters (search, asset freeze) are prioritised; in those cases please use the emergency line +49 6204 9721 0.
Is my information safe even if no engagement follows?
Yes. Statutory professional secrecy (Section 43a(2) BRAO, Section 203 StGB) already protects the approach itself, whether or not an engagement follows. Encrypted transmission, no disclosure to third parties, processing only to handle your enquiry.
Can you represent our company from abroad?
Yes — because VAT is European law: the same directive, the same CJEU case law, the same fraud patterns in every Member State. We conduct proceedings in Germany for domestic and foreign companies alike — on request entirely in English correspondence, from the first assessment through to trial. Where a case reaches beyond the German border — EPPO measures routinely run in several countries at once — we coordinate the defence with partner firms in the Member States concerned: one strategy, one point of contact. An example from practice: for a British trading company, we recovered goods that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office had seized in Austria. In short: if your business is the EU, so is our radar.