Internationality as a competitive advantage

Most companies today also operate in an international context. Cross-border business activities can offer opportunities as well as a decisive competitive advantage and at the same time entail complex issues. 

A successful international orientation requires strategic planning and adaptation to global market conditions.

Multidisciplinary solutions from a single source

As part of the global PKF network, you benefit from our extensive international experience and expertise; as an auditing, tax consulting and law firm, you benefit from our multidisciplinary auditing and consulting approach. We support your company in all matters relating to auditing, tax advice, accounting, legal advice, corporate finance and valuation as well as IT and financial issues. On request, we can develop interdisciplinary solutions for you from a single source, tailor-made and with a responsible contact person on site.

Member of the international PKF network

As part of the global PKF network with 1,830 partners and around 20,500 employees at over 500 locations in 144 countries, specialists are available to you worldwide and offer direct access to extensive specialist knowledge and information on current developments in the key economic regions. We work closely with local experts to develop individual solutions that give your company a clear competitive advantage.

International consulting: Focus on China

Our China Desk has been in existence since 2013, with numerous Chinese employees. Our colleagues at the country desk are deeply rooted in Chinese culture and speak Chinese as their mother tongue. In cooperation with the entire PKF Fasselt team, we can provide you with our wide range of services in Chinese.

Our Country Desks

PKF China Desk
PKF Turkey Desk

Our international consulting services

A key topic for our specialists is efficient international tax planning, which is designed for both German companies with interests abroad and foreign investors with activities in Germany. The identification of differences in tax systems and tax rates offers approaches for tax optimisation that can be implemented, for example, via holding, licensing and financing companies. In our concepts, issues of corporate structure play a role, as do loss utilisation, profit repatriation and exit strategies.

For internationally active companies, the transfer prices for intra-group deliveries and services have a decisive impact on the tax rate. These prices are frequently scrutinised by the tax authorities or even questioned completely. We support you in the development and documentation of transfer pricing models in line with the market and assist you in enforcing them vis-à-vis the tax authorities.

Despite the increasing virtualisation of work, international assignments of employees within corporate groups are still a regular occurrence. Such assignments give rise to numerous tax issues for both the employer and the employee, ranging from payroll accounting and hypothetical tax calculations to the submission of income tax returns in the host country. A secondment also has social security implications. Our specialists will also be happy to support you in solving these issues.

In addition to direct taxes, indirect taxes are also becoming increasingly important in international business transactions, as more and more countries are recognising them as an additional source of revenue. For example, some Gulf states introduced VAT on 1 January 2018, and other Gulf states intend to follow suit in the coming years. In China, the "business tax" has only recently been replaced by a sales tax. Even if these tax systems provide for a refund of the tax incurred at the respective preliminary stage, compliance with the local registration, documentation and declaration obligations generally involves a great deal of effort for taxpayers. In the case of tax systems with a cumulative burden effect, there is a risk of further financial disadvantages. These issues arise both in intra-group transactions and in transactions with third parties. The specialists in our international network support you in minimising the risks from indirect taxes and meeting local compliance requirements.

The PKF Worldwide Internationally Mobile Employee Guide provides key facts on employee mobility in more than 100 countries.