Bulgarian GmbH tax debts - collection by the German tax office?
November 22, 2010 | 35,00 EUR | answered by Dr. Dr. Danjel-Philippe Newerla
My Bulgarian GmbH still has tax debts. The local tax office is threatening to initiate mutual assistance proceedings. Is that possible? Can the German tax office really collect the debts? After all, it is the GmbH that has the tax debts, not the individual, or can the managing director be held liable. What happens if the GmbH goes bankrupt?
Dear inquirer,
Thank you for your inquiry. I would like to answer as follows:
Such administrative assistance procedures are possible and in such cases quite common. Since the Bulgarian tax office does not have enforcement powers due to your residence, the German authority can be requested for administrative assistance.
In this case, the procedure would of course be initiated against the company, that is, against the GmbH. According to § 43 GmbHG, the shareholder is also liable under certain conditions, namely if he has not exercised the care of an ordinary merchant in the performance of his management activities.
To put it simply, the managing director is personally liable if he has committed serious breaches of duty towards the company itself. Whether this is the case is always a question of the individual situation.
Bankruptcy would not be very useful here, as tax debts would have priority.
I hope this provides you with an initial legal orientation and wish you much success and all the best!
I would like to point out the following to you:
The legal advice I have provided is based solely on the information you have provided. My response is only an initial legal assessment of the situation, which cannot replace a comprehensive assessment of the situation. By adding or omitting relevant information, a completely different legal assessment may result.
I hope my explanations have been helpful to you. You are welcome to contact me via my email address or the follow-up option.
I wish you a pleasant Monday afternoon!
Kind regards from the North Sea coast
Dipl.-Jur. Danjel-Philippe Newerla, Attorney
Stresemannstr. 46
27570 Bremerhaven
kanzlei.newerla@web.de
Fax.0471/140244
