Thursday, June 4, 2009

German Legal Term of the Day

"Steuerhinterziebungsbekampfungsgesetz" = Act to Combat Tax Evasion

This is the name of an actual German law - very well known to tax attorneys here - designed to limit off-shore tax shelters such as Jersey or Malta. Not only is the word seriously impressive when spit out quickly by a co-worker, along with a "you don't know this?" tone, you have to hand it to the German Parliament for sticking to a simple, if long, name. If this were the product of our Washington Lovlies, it would have been named the Federal Defense of Apple Pie Freedom and Baseball Freedom Liberty Defense Act.

Or, to put it another way . . . "Bundeswacheäpfelkuchefreiheitundbaseballfreiheitunamhängingkeitwachegesetz."

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