Germany

Deloitte Germany

Schwannstrasse 6
40479 Duesseldorf
Germany

Tel: +49 211 8772 2250
Fax: +49 178 8772 250
Email: abregenhornkuhs@deloitte.de
Website: www.deloitte.com

Astrid Bregenhorn-Kuhs, Deloitte Germany (Deloitte GmbH Wirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaft), is a partner advising German-based DAX 30 and HDAX 110 companies. She is a member of the German tax and legal management team and heads the German tax and legal clients and industries group for Deloitte Germany.

Astrid has lots of experience in domestic and cross-border taxation for German multinational clients. She provides multinationals with professional advice on business model restructurings, mergers and acquisitions including post-merger integration as well as the reorganisation of international groups and managing tax controversy. Astrid has successfully developed, implemented and defended complex cross-border restructuring and reorganisation plans, including alternative financing strategies and intellectual property planning. Her vast experience includes representing clients in tax field audits and tax litigation as well as negotiating with several German tax authorities involving complex taxation issues. Astrid advises clients in all types of national disputes with tax authorities.

Astrid advises large domestic groups in the tax structuring of their business activities and the management of tax risks. Her areas of business focus include consumer products, retail, chemicals, travel and telecommunication.

Astrid teaches international tax law at two German universities and is a frequent speaker in seminars. She has a master's degree in economics from the University of Hanover and a doctoral degree in economics/international taxation from the University of Hanover. Furthermore, she is a German chartered tax adviser.

Deloitte Germany

Franklinstraße 50
60486 Frankfurt
Germany

Tel: +49 69 75695 6321
Fax: +49 69 75695 6724
Mobile: +49 151 58002558
Email: bmertgen@deloitte.de
Website: www.deloitte.com/de

Bettina Mertgen, Deloitte Germany, is a director in the indirect tax service line – customs and global trade (CGT) and partner at the associated international law firm Deloitte Legal. She is specialised in customs, excise duty, and foreign trade law and export control with more than 10 years of professional experience as an attorney at law, tax lawyer, certified tax adviser, and certified adviser for customs and excise duty. Bettina is one of the leading specialists in indirect taxation in Germany. She leads the legal unit within the CGT team and is head of the CGT group in Deloitte's Frankfurt office. She has extensive experience in advising clients with regard to opposition and administrative fines proceedings, tax litigation, customs audits and compliance reviews.

After her graduation in law from Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University Frankfurt am Main in 2002, Bettina completed her legal clerkship in Frankfurt and New York with a focus on tax law. In 2006, she gained admission to the German Bar. Before joining Deloitte in 2015, she worked for more than eight years for an international law firm in Frankfurt and Washington DC and became a specialist in her area of law. High-level advisory with respect to complex and difficult matters in this area of law became her strengths. She successfully took part in legal proceedings to the Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) concerning excise duty.

Bettina co-authored the book Compliance im Außenwirtschaftsrecht covering compliance in customs and foreign trade law. It was tailored to fit the practical needs of companies and provide its decision-makers with guidance on export control and customs compliance. Moreover, she publishes articles in professional journals on a regular basis covering all relevant aspects of customs, excise duty and foreign trade law. Most recently, she covered the possible consequences of Brexit (the UK leaving the EU) on indirect taxation as well as the interaction between transfer pricing and customs valuation.

Besides her work and her publications, Bettina is also a speaker at seminars on a regular basis.