The IT service provider Datev should not only set up the “special electronic tax advisor mailbox” (beSt), but also create a virtual tax advisor platform at the same time.
(Photo: dpa)
The fraud in corona aid at the beginning of the pandemic has clearly shown that the guild of tax advisors needs easy and secure access to the administration. At the time, companies could only apply for their aid funds through “third parties”, i.e. through tax advisors, auditors or lawyers. Their data were compared with the professional register. The consultants also received a PIN code in the mail. Nevertheless, fraudsters succeeded in posing as fake tax advisers or auditors and stole millions.
In the future there will now be digital access with a unique digital identity for tax advisors and law firms. Because from 2023 the profession will be obliged to use the “special electronic tax advisor mailbox” (beSt). There is already a similar mailbox for lawyers.
The President of the Federal Chamber of Tax Advisors (BStBK), Hartmut Schwab, explains: “For us tax advisors, security must have the highest priority.” That is what our clients expected. This is also the aim of the confidentiality obligation.
In fact, the IT service provider Datev should not only set up the mailbox in the coming months, but also create a virtual tax consultant platform on behalf of the chamber.
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De-Mail is switched off
In the future, a good 100,000 tax consultants across Germany will be able to use the platform to easily contact the tax authorities via a chat function, for example. That sounds simple. So far, however, it has been the case that the employees of the tax offices are only allowed to express themselves by letter or fax. Quick additions to a tax return, receipts in real time or a brief inquiry with the clerk do not work. The secure exchange of data with the courts should also be handled via the platform.
Since 2018, tax consultants and auditors have already been obliged to set up a secure transmission path for court documents, even if they themselves could still file complaints by post or fax. Until now, only De-Mail was legally available. However, Deutsche Telekom has now switched off this e-mail service. One more reason for the Federal Chamber of Tax Advisors to create an independent infrastructure. This would then also be suitable for secure communication with other tax advisors, lawyers and notaries.
Chamber President Schwab considers both his guild and the financial administration to be “particularly open-minded” with a view to digitization: “The employees of the offices are already facing the matter through the Elster electronic tax return.” And the tax consultants have been using specialist software for years. “This makes them digital-savvy anyway,” says Schwab.
The specialist software used should also enable the consultants to access the platform. There they can identify themselves using the ID card with online ID function. Authentication takes place through a comparison with the professional register. End-to-end encryption is used for data exchange with clients, authorities or courts, for example. This should guarantee security and protect against unauthorized access.
Learning from the debacle at the attorney’s mailbox
The background to the hustle and bustle is also the law to improve online access to administrative services (OZG). It plans to digitize the German administration across the board by the end of 2022.
“In the municipalities and cities, work is currently being carried out on digitization,” explains Chamber President Schwab. Since tax consultants are also concerned with pay slips or short-time work benefits, they also have to do with the social security agencies and employment offices. “Our future tax advisory platform has to be taken into account here,” demands Schwab. A uniform system is necessary.
Schwab does not believe that tax advisors will suffer the same fate as lawyers. The “special electronic lawyer mailbox” (beA) had a debacle. The mailbox was supposed to start in 2016, but then had to be stopped for months due to blatant security deficiencies. “To be honest, we and the Datev were able to learn from the mistakes of the legal profession,” says BStBK President Schwab. “Problems are always possible, but it doesn’t look like it at the moment.”
More: How tax offices and tax investigators want to track down corona fraud