Florian advises on corporate tax law (including restructurings and M&A), international tax law and selected civil and corporate law matters. Furthermore, he has a remarkable track record regarding German and foreign foundations. His clients include German and international companies (often family-owned), high-net-worth individuals and family offices. In the area of family-owned businesses, he does not only cover tax aspects on company level, but also pressing questions on the level of the shareholders, in particular on asset and company succession as well as on relocation matters.
His clients appreciate his versatile knowledge, his creativity as well as his prudent and forward-looking manner. He brings together tax expertise with profound knowledge of corporate and foundation law. In addition, Florian has a large (international) network. This enables him to quickly integrate the right people into the solution process of complicated cases. WirtschaftsWoche recommends Florian as a "top consultant" for international tax law, Handelsblatt/Best Lawyers names him as one of Germany’s best lawyers for tax law. International Tax Review / World Tax classifies him as highly regarded for general corporate tax. Leaders League ranks him as “excellent” for corporate tax law and tax litigation.
Education and Career
Florian studied law in Bonn and Cologne. He received his doctorate in Bonn with a thesis on foundation and foundation tax law, for which Kathrein Privatbank (Vienna) awarded him its dissertation prize. After his legal clerkship, he worked as a lawyer and tax advisor at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Düsseldorf, London and Amsterdam. Florian is assistant professor at the University of Düsseldorf, lecturer in tax law at the University of Cologne, and regularly gives lectures and seminars. He is also editor and author of numerous books and articles. He contributes to commentaries on the Transformation Tax Act, Foreign Tax Act, Income Tax Act, Corporate Income Tax Act and Tax Treaty Germany/Ireland. Florian is a member of the IFA, chairman of the Young IFA Network (Germany) and a member of the Specialised Institute of Tax Advisers (Fachinstitut der Steuerberater) as well as of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).
Experience
Florian’s recent work highlights (at YPOG and before that at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) include:
- advising a family business on several cross-border merger transactions involving entities in Liechtenstein and Bulgaria
- advising several private equity companies on specific questions in the field of international tax law (CFC taxation, withholding tax)
- advising a family-owned company and its shareholders on the dissolution of a usufruct right, the transformation from a partnership to a corporation and the following transfer to German family foundations
- providing ongoing tax advice to a real-estate investor operating internationally
- advising a wealthy individual on the establishment of a family-office
- advising the founder of a start-up on German exit-tax (Sec. 6 German Foreign Tax Act 2021)
- advising the anchor shareholders of an MDAX-listed company on their asset succession using German foundations
- advising an entrepreneurial family on the establishment of a Liechtenstein foundation as a central investment platform
- advising a large family-owned company on dealing with certain regulatory issues by way of reorganizations using an Austrian private foundation
- a family of ultra-high net worth individuals with members across Europe and the U.S. on dealing comprehensively with, and winding up, a trust structure based in the Cayman Islands
- representing a family-owned company as plaintiffs in a test case on flat-rate interest taxation (sec. 6a German Income Tax Act) regarding the discounting of pension provisions (referral by the Cologne Tax Court to Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court)
- advising Continental on the spin-off of Vitesco
- advising a private client on building up and gifting a housing company
Qualifications
- German qualified attorney (Rechtsanwalt)
- German qualified tax advisor (Steuerberater)
- Certified tax attorney (Fachanwalt für Steuerrecht)
- Certified advisor for international tax law (Fachberater für Internationales Steuerrecht)
- Ph.D. in law (Dr. iur.) (Bonn University)
- LL.M. in Business Law (Cologne University)
Languages
- German
- English
Commentaries and notes on judgments (selection)
- Commentary on sec. 15 Corporate Income Tax Act (KStG)
in: Hermann/Heuer/Raupach, EStG/KStG (forthcoming) [in German] - Partial commentary of secs. 6, 8 and 15 German Foreign Tax Act (AStG),
in: Kraft, AStG, C.H. Beck publishing house, 3rd edition 2022 (forthcoming) [in German] - Commentary on secs. 15 and 16 German Reorganization Tax Act (UmwStG),
in: Dürrschmidt/Mückl/Weggenmann, BeckOK [online commentary] UmwStG (together with Martin Rehberg) [in German] - Commentary on DTA Germany–Ireland (Annex),
in: Wassermeyer/Kaeser/Schwenke/Drüen, Commentary on all German DTAs, C.H. Beck publishing house, 155th edition 2021 [in German] - Commentary on sec. 16 German Income Tax Act (EStG)
in: Kirchhof/Ratschow/Kulosa, BeckOK [online commentary] EStG, C.H. Beck publishing house, 6th edition 2020 (together with Bert Füssenich and Oliver Rode) [in German] - Commentary on Art. 3 Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD),
in: Hagemann/Kahlenberg, ATAD, NWB publishing house, 2019 [in German]
Monographs and book contributions (selection)
- Chapter 13 - (Add-back taxation in the context of interposed foreign companies, p. 598 - 619), Chapter 14 - (Add-back taxation in the context of family foundations, p. 619 - 637) and Chapter 22 - (Dealing with cross-border scenarios, p. 1228 - 1298),
in: Schaumburg, Int’l Tax Law, Otto Schmidt publishing house, 5th edition 2023 [in German] - Cross-border participation in partnerships and corporations,
in: Micker/Pohl/Oppel, Handbook Int’l Tax Law, NWB publishing house, 2022, pp. 531 – 613. [in German]
Essays and notes on judgments (selection)
- Actual implementation of a profit and loss transfer agreement – Comment on BFH, Urt. v. 2.11.2022 - I R 37/19
Die Unternehmensbesteuerung 2023, S. 213 – 220
[in German] - Sale and discontinuation of a business in trade tax law: activity determines the identity of the business - Comment on BFH, Urt. v. 10.2.2022 - IV R 6/19,
Die Unternehmensbesteuerung 2022, S. 638 – 642 [in German] - The international family business and its shareholders - Part 1: Relocation of a domestic shareholder,
Recht der Familienunternehmen 2022, S. 445 – 455, together with Leon Wittling [in German] - The German CFC rules as amended by the ATAD Implementation Bill,
Betriebs-Berater (26/2022), pp. 1495 – 1503, together with Leon Wittling [in German] - Corporate-income-tax option under sec. 1a German Corporate Income Tax Act (KStG), as amended, in the international context,
IStR 2021, pp. 388–399 (together with Julian Böhmer and Moritz Mühlhausen) [in German] - The tightening of exit taxation in the course of ATAD implementation
IWB 2021, pp. 508–519 [in German] - Tightening of sec. 50d(3) German Income Tax Act (EStG) in the wake of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)? – critical assessment of the German government’s draft Act of 20 Jan. 2021 on revising the German anti-treaty-shopping rules,
DStR 2021, pp. 1017–1025 (together with David Beutel) [in German] - Reform of the law on foundations – overview of the German government’s draft Act of 3 Feb. 2021 and a first analysis,
NWB Erben und Vermögen [Inheritance and Assets] 2021, pp. 122–130 [in German] - Cross-border equity reductions,
in: Grotherr/Gosch/Bergmann, Handbook Tax Planning and Compliance, NWB publishing house, 2020 [in German] - Implementation of the BEPS results into German DTAs – overview of the German Act to Implement the Multilateral Instrument (MLI) and conclusions therefrom regarding the German DTA policy,
IStR 2020, pp. 295–307 [in German] - Application of sec. 50d(3) German Income Tax Act (EStG) in the light of EU law – case note on the Cologne Tax Court’s judgments of 23 Jan. 2019 (case no. 2 K 1315/13) and of 14 Nov. 2018 (case no. 2 K 202/10)
FR 2020, pp. 409–414 [in German] - Germany’s Federal Fiscal Court rules out direct access to capital-contribution account even in scenarios involving third countries – developments in case law impede the repayment of contributions in cases involving third countries
IStR 2020, pp. 46–55 [in German] - Does the exclusion of foreign family foundations from the tax-bracket privilege of sec. 15(2) sent. 1 German Inheritance and Gift Tax Act (ErbStG) infringe EU law? – case note on the Tax Court of Hesse’s ruling of 7 March 2019,
Zeitschrift für Erbrecht und Vermögensnachfolge [Journal of Inheritance Law and Asset Succession] 2020, pp. 209–214 (together with Dietmar Arzner) [in German]
Direct message to Dr. Florian Oppel