litigation

About Us

Litigation focusing on Customs, Excise Duty and Foreign Trade Law

For companies and their management

Deloitte Legal advises companies and their management on all aspects of litigation concerning customs, excise duty as well as foreign trade law. This is true in particular regarding administrative fine and criminal investigation proceedings, often introduced as follow up to an audit.

We, as Deloitte Legal assist you in the area of Customs, Excise Duty and Foreign Trade Law covering:

Litigation

In the area of Customs and Excise Duty Law, more and more proceedings are conducted covering the questions whether duties occurred at all and if yes, what is the exact amount. For conducting such proceedings, procedural as well as technical knowledge is a mandatory requirement. Having this in mind, we are specialized in this particular area of law. We assist you with our expertise in conducting proceedings covering all aspects of the area of Customs and Excise Duty Law. This includes:

  • Appeal proceedings
  • Court proceedings before the Local Financial Court, the Federal Tax court as well as the European Court of Justice
  • Interim relief (e.g. Application for suspension of operation)
  • Application for remission

Investigation and Administrative fine Proceedings

The customs authorities provide the responsible criminal department more and more with any complaint, e.g. based on an audit or occurred based on a customs clearance. This often leads to an introduction of investigation proceedings. During such proceedings it is highly recommended to take your position and counter argue any accusations substantiated if possible. We are happy to assist you with it.

Advise in Customs and Foreign Trade Audits

Customs and Foreign Trade Audits often leads to complaints of the auditor. Since, depending on the Main Customs Office district, most of the audit reports are forwarded to the criminal department, the exact wording of the audit report is crucial.
Having said this, the communication with the auditor and the entity’s position to the substantive regulations as well as with respect to the proceedings tactic is essential. We provide you with the required expertise from one source.

Criminal defense in Tax Law Cases

Moreover, we can lead your defense if the non-compliance would result in criminal proceedings. We have experience and expertise in criminal tax law, and will assist comprehensively at all stages before the prosecutor and the criminal courts (interlocutory, main and appellate proceedings). For more details, please see under “Criminal Tax Law” and “Procedural Tax Law“.

Bettina Mertgen
Your Contact Bettina Mertgen
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