Finance Court (Germany)

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The Finance Court (German: Finanzgericht) is a special court. In Germany it is the court of first instance for legal recourse in financial disputes. The judges rule on legal disputes between tax citizens and the tax authorities (tax offices, customs authorities, family funds and the German Federal Pension Insurance Association in matters relating to pension benefits (Section 98 Income Tax Act)).

The punishment of tax offenders is not the business of the Fiscal Court. A Fiscal Court is not an extended arm of tax government, but is independent from it like any other German court (separation of powers, also known as trias politica). Except for the (federal) supreme courts, each federal state is responsible for organising its own judicature (Division of powers).

The Fiscal Courts are listed below:

• Fiscal Courts of North Rhine-Westphalia
  • Düsseldorf [1]
  • Cologne [2]
  • Münster[3]
• Fiscal Court of Baden-Wuerttemberg[4]
• Fiscal Courts of Bavaria[5]
• Fiscal Court of Berlin - Brandenburg [6]
• Fiscal Court of Bremen[7]
• Fiscal Court of Hamburg[8]
• Fiscal Court of Hesse[9]
• Fiscal Court of Lower Saxony[10]
• Fiscal Court of Saxony-Anhalt[11]
• Fiscal Court of Thuringia[12]
• Fiscal Court of Saxony[13]
• Fiscal Court of Schleswig-Holstein[14]
• Fiscal Court of Rhineland-Palatinate[15]
• Fiscal Court of Saarland[16]

Appeal court in tax and custom matters is the Federal Fiscal Court of Germany (dt.: Bundesfinanzhof)

External links[]

• Official homepage of the Federal Fiscal Court
• Information in English from the Federal Fiscal Court