FS Tax - Insurance

In addition to all routine tax issues, we support our clients with tax return preparation, tax audits as well as in proceedings. Areas of focus include: Questions on the taxation of investments at the level of the insurer as well as tax accounting effects related to insurance-specific provisions.

Our range of services also includes advice on tax implications related to special issues such as corporate restructuring and regulation-induced transactions (e.g. portfolio transfers, formation of captives).

With regard to indirect taxes, advice on insurance tax issues plays a significant role, alongside VAT optimisation. We advise on insurance tax compliance and the assessment of products in light of insurance tax. We also offer knowledgeable support during tax audits.

In addition to the tax and regulatory assessment of insurance and pension products, we are the point of contact for all tax issues in the area of occupational pension schemes and products.

For insurers with foreign operations, we offer direct access to the global FS KPMG advisor network, to our global expertise and to current developments in international taxation.

We follow legislation, case law and opinion developments in the relevant jurisdictions as well as developments within the EU. And we also keep our clients up to date with the latest tax news and solutions from the international centres of excellence and national tax offices.

Our services include the assumption of all tax activities, e.g. for branches, as well as tax advice for international reorganizations, withholding tax issues and international tax compliance.

In doing so, we support our clients in planning and implementing a sustainable transfer pricing system, as well as in tax audits and mutual agreement procedures. We have the necessary experience to develop our clients' transfer pricing systems, implement them operationally, document them regularly and successfully defend them in tax audits worldwide.

Increased requirements for transparency and documentation, increasing digitalisation as well as tighter legal framework conditions and more restrictive handling by the tax authorities are having a greater impact on the tax function. For example, even comparatively minor errors in tax declarations can lead to the initiation of criminal or administrative offence proceedings. To adequately address this, insurers should take a closer look at their tax function and examine to what extent an adjustment of the tax processes and governance structure is necessary.

In this way, we support with customised solutions such as maturity assessments, implementation support as well as PS 980 audits.

Digitalisation is also having an increasingly strong impact on the tax departments of insurance companies.

On the one hand, processes are increasingly being digitalised, especially at the interface with the customer; this also brings changes for the tax function (e.g. with regard to the appropriate tax structuring and assessment of these processes). On the other hand, the demands of national and foreign tax authorities on the tax function are also increasing due to global initiatives (e.g. BEPS). With the help of new digital technologies, there are opportunities to respond to these new demands.

We offer comprehensive advisory services to improve the quality and efficiency of the tax function. We achieve this by combining tax expertise, professional process consulting and forward-looking technologies.