Legal notice and mandatory details for tax advisers in Germany

Five sets of rules, one legal notice

No single provision lists all the mandatory details of a tax firm website. Instead, they come from several laws. If you know where a line comes from, you can also word it correctly.

The details must be easy to recognise, directly accessible and permanently available. The usual solution is a “Legal notice” link in the footer of every page, next to “Datenschutz” (privacy). A link to the EU online dispute resolution platform has not been needed since it was switched off in July 2025; remove it if it is still there.

The competent chamber of tax advisers

§ 5 (1) no. 5 DDG requires the chamber you belong to. That is the Steuerberaterkammer in whose district your professional establishment is located. The Bundessteuerberaterkammer (BStBK, Federal Chamber of Tax Advisers) is the umbrella organisation, but not your chamber for the purposes of the legal notice. Watch out in the three large states with several chambers: Bavaria has the chambers of Munich and Nuremberg, Baden-Württemberg those of Nordbaden, Stuttgart and Südbaden, North Rhine-Westphalia those of Düsseldorf, Cologne and Westfalen-Lippe. What counts is the district, not the federal state.

For the supervisory authority under § 5 (1) no. 3 DDG, most firms also name the Steuerberaterkammer, because it appoints tax advisers and monitors compliance with professional duties. State supervision of the chamber itself lies with the state's finance ministry or tax administration (§ 88 StBerG), but that does not belong in an individual firm's legal notice. Give the chamber's full name, the addition “Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts” (public-law body), and its address or a link.

Professional title, Fachberater and other titles

The statutory professional titles are “Steuerberater”, “Steuerberaterin” or “Steuerbevollmächtigte:r” (§ 43 StBerG, Tax Advisers Act). In the legal notice, add the awarding state: “verliehen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland” (awarded in the Federal Republic of Germany). Additional designations are only permitted if they have been officially awarded. These include the two Fachberater (certified adviser) designations under the Fachberaterordnung, “Fachberater:in für Internationales Steuerrecht” (international tax law) and “Fachberater:in für Zölle und Verbrauchsteuern” (customs and excise duties), as well as the addition “Landwirtschaftliche Buchstelle” (agricultural accounting office, § 44 StBerG).

As professional rules, name the Steuerberatungsgesetz (StBerG), its implementing regulation (DVStB), the professional code of the Bundessteuerberaterkammer (BOStB) and the fee regulation for tax advisers (StBVV). For access, a link is enough, for example to the BStBK's professional rules page or to gesetze-im-internet.de. The BOStB currently applies in the version that entered into force on 1 August 2022; still, link to the chamber's page rather than to a PDF, so the link stays correct after future amendments.

Liability insurance: mandatory under the DL-InfoV

Professional indemnity insurance is a fixed part of the mandatory information in Germany. Where compulsory insurance exists, § 2 (1) no. 11 DL-InfoV (Services Information Ordinance) requires the name and address of the insurer and the territorial scope. You may provide this information via the website, and the legal notice is the obvious place for it. You do not have to publish the policy number; third parties can obtain it from the chamber if needed.

PartGmbB, GmbH and other professional practice companies

Professional and Fachberater titles are personal (§ 9 (5) BOStB): the partner is the Fachberaterin, not the company. If you operate at several locations under a short name, it must be the same everywhere (§ 9 (4) BOStB).

Sample: legal notice of a tax advisory PartGmbB

A fictitious example that brings the building blocks together. Adapt it to your firm and delete anything that does not apply. The wording stays in German, as it would appear on the site.

• Seidel & Yilmaz Steuerberater PartGmbB, Steuerberatungsgesellschaft, Hafenstraße 12, 28217 Bremen
• Telefon +49 421 0000000, E-Mail kanzlei@seidel-yilmaz.example
• Vertretungsberechtigte Partner:innen: Dipl.-Kffr. Anja Seidel, Steuerberaterin; Can Yilmaz, M.Sc., Steuerberater, Fachberater für Internationales Steuerrecht
• Partnerschaftsregister: Amtsgericht Bremen, PR 000; USt-IdNr. DE000000000
• Gesetzliche Berufsbezeichnung: Steuerberater/Steuerberaterin, verliehen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
• Zuständige Kammer: Hanseatische Steuerberaterkammer Bremen, Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts, stbkammer-bremen.de
• Berufsrecht: StBerG, DVStB, BOStB, StBVV, abrufbar über bstbk.de und gesetze-im-internet.de
• Berufshaftpflichtversicherung: [Versicherer], [Anschrift], Geltungsbereich: Deutschland bzw. EU
• Verantwortlich für redaktionelle Inhalte nach § 18 Abs. 2 MStV: Anja Seidel, Anschrift wie oben
• Verbraucherschlichtung: Wir sind nicht bereit und nicht verpflichtet, an Streitbeilegungsverfahren vor einer Verbraucherschlichtungsstelle teilzunehmen.

Consumer arbitration and client letters

Under § 36 VSBG (Consumer Dispute Resolution Act), businesses with a website or standard terms must state whether they are willing or obliged to take part in proceedings before a consumer arbitration body. Firms that employed ten or fewer people on 31 December of the previous year are exempt from this obligation. Many small firms include the sentence anyway, because it creates clarity.

If you publish client letters, a tax calendar with commentary or a technical blog, this content usually counts as journalistic or editorial. In that case, name a responsible person with name and address under § 18 (2) MStV (Interstate Media Treaty). Buying in ready-made client information does not change this: whoever publishes it on their own site is responsible for it.

Data protection, cookies and the client portal

The privacy policy describes which data your website processes: server logs at the host, enquiries via the contact form, online booking, newsletter. For non-essential cookies and access to users' devices, you need consent under § 25 TDDDG; the only exception is what is strictly necessary for the service requested. So load embedded maps, videos or analytics tools only after consent.

As a tax adviser, you are also bound to secrecy about everything that comes to your knowledge in the course of your work (§ 57 (1) StBerG). That includes the website: for receipts and payroll documents, the document exchange of your practice software, such as DATEV Unternehmen online, is better suited than an upload field in the contact form. With your hosting and form providers, sign a data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR.

Accessibility: when the BFSG applies

Since 28 June 2025, the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG, Accessibility Strengthening Act) has applied to e-commerce services offered to consumers with a view to concluding a contract. According to the prevailing view, a purely informational site about your firm is not covered. Things may look different if consumers book paid consultations or engage you online through the website. Microenterprises with fewer than ten employees and no more than 2 million euros in annual turnover or balance sheet total are exempt from the obligations for services (§ 3 (3) BFSG).

How you may promote your firm without breaching § 57a StBerG is shown in the article Advertising for tax advisers in Germany. What else belongs on a good firm website is covered in Website content for firms, and the route to your own practice in Setting up as a tax adviser in Germany.