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  2. German to English
  3. Law: Taxation & Customs

rechtssichere und steueroptimale Gestaltung

English translation: legally sure-fire and optimal tax planning

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:rechtssichere und steueroptimale Gestaltung
English translation:legally sure-fire and optimal tax planning
Entered by: Adrian MM. (X)

10:15 Sep 2, 2015
German to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Law: Taxation & Customs / Tax Consultancy
German term or phrase: rechtssichere und steueroptimale Gestaltung
"Mit der Übertragung Ihres Steuerberatungsmandats übernehmen wir eine besondere Vertrauensstellung und tragen ein hohes Maß an Verantwortung. Gerne beurteilen wir bei komplexen Sachverhalten auch die Meinung Ihres langjährigen Beraters und geben Ihnen dadurch zusätzliche Sicherheit - ganz seriös und ohne dass wir den Berater Ihres Vertrauens verdrängen wollen.
Basierend auf Ihren definierten Zielen beraten wir Sie in der ***rechtssicheren und steueroptimalen Gestaltung***. Diese komplexe Aufgabe - oftmals sind gleiche mehrere Steuerarten zu berücksichtigen - setzt in der Regel den Schlusspunkt unter ein Projekt, nachdem die kaufmännischen und vertraglichen Rahmenbedingungen feststehen."

From a Web site text for a tax consultancy office. I can't make head or tail of the phrase "rechtssichere und steueroptimale Gestaltung". Would "Gestaltung" be something like structuring or organisation here? Design doesn't make a lot of sense. Steueroptimal is an absolutely horrible word, and there's not much dictionary help for rechtssicher, although I found "legal" in one - would that work? Maybe "incontestable", which seems to have come up in a few other KudoZ queries in the past? TIA for your help.
Rowan Morrell
New Zealand
Local time: 21:17
legally cast-iron and optimal tax planning
Explanation:
cast-iron A.K.A. copper-bottomed to certain UK journalists and broadcasters who often happen to twist the truth and get their facts wrong.

Rechtssicher = legally certain or predictable.

Gestaltung: estate etc. tax planning, prereably avoiding 'highly artificial tax-avoidance schemes' the UK HMRC and London (Auckland?) High Court love to go after and 'strike down'.
Selected response from:

Adrian MM. (X)
Local time: 11:17
Grading comment
I more or less used this translation (although like RobinB, I wasn't totally convinced by any answer). But this was the only answer to specify that Gestaltung meant planning in this context, which at least did help quite a bit. So a belated thanks for that Adrian, and thanks also to the others for their efforts on this very tough phrase. Appreciate everyone's assistance.
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1legally compliant and tax optimal structure
Cillie Swart
4 +1legally cast-iron and optimal tax planning
Adrian MM. (X)
4legally secure and tax-optimized arrangement
Daniel Arnold (X)
3limit your tax liabilities in a legally ironclad way
Michael Martin, MA


Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
legally compliant and tax optimal structure


Explanation:
This is referring to the structure that they create for you in which you record your earnings and expenses. They do it in a way that is on the one hand legally compliant but on the other hand ensures that you pay as little tax as possible.


    Reference: http://www.linguee.com
Cillie Swart
South Africa
Local time: 11:17
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  philgoddard: Or just "legal compliance and tax optimisation". "Structure" to me implies setting up a new business or reorganising an existing one, but that doesn't appear to be the case here.
5 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
legally cast-iron and optimal tax planning


Explanation:
cast-iron A.K.A. copper-bottomed to certain UK journalists and broadcasters who often happen to twist the truth and get their facts wrong.

Rechtssicher = legally certain or predictable.

Gestaltung: estate etc. tax planning, prereably avoiding 'highly artificial tax-avoidance schemes' the UK HMRC and London (Auckland?) High Court love to go after and 'strike down'.

Example sentence(s):
  • MeltFund Guidance on Optimal Tax Planning. There are 2 principle rules: Keep perfect paperwork; Keep NO paperwork.

    Reference: http://www.proz.com/kudoz/german_to_english/human_resources/...
Adrian MM. (X)
Local time: 11:17
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 111
Grading comment
I more or less used this translation (although like RobinB, I wasn't totally convinced by any answer). But this was the only answer to specify that Gestaltung meant planning in this context, which at least did help quite a bit. So a belated thanks for that Adrian, and thanks also to the others for their efforts on this very tough phrase. Appreciate everyone's assistance.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  RobinB: Though I’m not wildly enthused about “cast-iron” (see my comments in the discussion entry).//I think the trend everywhere now is for tax authorities to win their challenges. BTW: I’ll be running a BDÜ BaWü tax law seminar (De-En) next year, incl. BEPS.
20 hrs
  -> Your 'copper-bottomed' point taken. My own rev law background suggests that, rather than the scheme being legally certain, tax authorities won't have 'a leg to stand on' if challenging any offshore etc. scam.//Thx for the 'free' invite into my retirement.
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
legally secure and tax-optimized arrangement


Explanation:
In the German legal lingo, "Ausgestaltung" is widely used when drawing up contracts and other legal documents. In my opinion this is the same as "Gestaltung". The concept of "Rechtssicherheit" is often translated as "legal certainty", but that does not fit in well here, therefore I have chosen "legally secure". I have myself created structures in companies that were tax optimized, as such I know the word from my own dealings with lawyers and accountants. I am unsure about whether to use a hiven, but that's a matter of taste I guess.

Example sentence(s):
  • ...we advise you in creating a legally secure and tax-optimized arrangement

    Reference: http://www.linguee.de/deutsch-englisch/uebersetzung/rechtlic...
    Reference: http://www.linguee.de/deutsch-englisch/search?source=auto&qu...
Daniel Arnold (X)
Australia
Local time: 11:17
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 15
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
limit your tax liabilities in a legally ironclad way


Explanation:
..we advise you on the best structures to limit your tax liabilities in a legally ironclad way

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 22 hrs (2015-09-03 08:26:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

There’s no need to explicitly mention tax planning in this context because the German doesn’t do that either. Even though we’re required here to translate isolated phrases and we’ve agreed that Gestaltung is likely a reference to tax planning, proper translation is not about explaining the meaning. There are plenty of ways to communicate the author’s message without dwelling on isolated terms.

Michael Martin, MA
United States
Local time: 05:17
Meets criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 53

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Adrian MM. (X): Intriguing where you got the ferrous metaphor from.....
4 hrs
  -> From reliable idiomatic English sources
neutral  gangels (X): The ironclad way turns out to be a Holzweg
4 days
  -> Not a Holzweg unless somebody makes a convincing case it is. Your comment certainly doesn’t.
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