Master's Degree in Business Taxation / Master of Taxation

The four-semester master's degree programme in Business Taxation builds on your bachelor's degree, which you will have obtained in business administration, law, commercial law or similar fields. The programme provides in-depth specialist knowledge of tax accounting law, income taxation, value added tax, other taxes and tax procedural law. You will also develop interdisciplinary and personal skills that are crucial for your career. In all tax-related modules, particular emphasis is placed on the integration of tax planning measures, the analysis of tax developments within a socio-political context, and comparative studies of international tax frameworks.

Successful completion of this Master’s programme can also lay the foundations for further academic study, in particular a doctorate.

Please note that this is a full-time degree programme. Employment alongside the programme is limited to a maximum of 20 hours per week.

Are you aiming for a challenging specialist or management role in the field of corporate taxation? Would you like to take on more responsibility within a tax consultancy or auditing firm? Are you looking for a concise and practice-oriented full-time degree programme that opens up a range of career options? Do you value independent problem-solving and constructive teamwork? Then the master's degree programme in Business Taxation is tailor-made for you!

The continuing education master's degree programme in Business Taxation equips students for a career as specialists in complex tax-related and relevant economic issues. Graduates are able to provide professional advice to their respective partners and clients. As responsible individuals, they demonstrate strong interpersonal skills in all communication situations. Critical reflection on their own professional practice, decisions and advisory services is one of the core competencies they acquire.

Optional additional qualifications include the Tax Adviser Examination and a Master of Laws from our partner university, OTH Amberg-Weiden. Graduates of the master's degree programme in Business Taxation are also eligible to pursue doctoral studies.

The master's degree programme in Business Taxation comprises four full-time semesters (120 LP) and can be commenced in either the summer or winter semester. The first semester focuses on teaching the fundamentals of the subject areas of commercial and company law, business administration and compliance. In addition to an in-depth study of tax law, the programme includes case-based academic work and the resolution of practical problems in the areas of commercial and company law. In the second and third semesters, students acquire in-depth knowledge of income tax, value-added tax, valuation law, inheritance tax, procedural law, and the commercial and tax law aspects of financial reporting. In the fourth and final semester, the focus is on writing the Master’s thesis and undertaking project-based case studies, whilst taking into account the requirements of the Tax Adviser Examination. This enables graduates to sit the Tax Adviser Examination immediately upon completion of their studies.

If students commence their studies in the summer semester, the above-mentioned content is spread over five semesters. In this option, too, graduates sit the Tax Adviser Examination immediately after completing their master's degree.

The master's degree programme in Business Taxation is also available in Berlin. There, lectures take place on two days a week. The modules and course content are structured identically and coordinated between Munich and Berlin. Even if you study in Berlin, you will receive a dregree from Munich University of Applied Sciences in Munich.

The master's degree programme in Business Taxation opens up excellent career prospects for you. Due to globalisation and increasingly complex tax legislation, companies are facing significant challenges. This has led to a steadily growing demand for highly qualified professionals in the fields of tax consultancy, auditing and accountancy. With a master's degree in Business Taxation, you will be exceptionally well qualified for all relevant specialist and managerial roles in these sectors.

As part of the one-day event ‘DATEV for the Tax Adviser Examination’, participants will learn about the various ways in which IT can be used in tax consultancy practice, using a range of DATEV programmes. Topics such as bookkeeping and accounting, annual financial statements (commercial and tax), income tax and the tax implications at shareholder level are covered in an interdisciplinary manner, using two example companies (GmbH and OHG). Using the example GmbH, participants will prepare the company’s monthly accounts, make the year-end entries for both the commercial and tax balance sheets, calculate the GmbH’s tax provisions whilst taking into account the relevant off-balance-sheet additions and deductions, and, based on this, prepare the income tax returns for the GmbH’s shareholders. In the context of the OHG, a separate and uniform determination of profits is carried out in practice, the OHG’s trade tax return is prepared, and the consequences for the co-partners are analysed, whereby the partnership must prepare both a special balance sheet and a supplementary balance sheet.

The knowledge gained in the process regarding DATEV software and the practical resolution of real-world scenarios is not only of great benefit to immediate professional practice, but also, in particular, for the Tax Adviser Examination: The questions set in the Tax Adviser Examination are regularly based on practical professional activities (posting entries in company codes, distinguishing between the commercial balance sheet, the tax balance sheet, the reconciliation statement and off-balance-sheet adjustments), so that an understanding of how to resolve accounting, balance sheet and tax issues in practice is also extremely helpful – indeed, essential – for passing Tax Adviser Examinations. Actually preparing commercial balance sheets, tax balance sheets, special balance sheets and supplementary balance sheets also helps you to visualise and retain the theoretical concepts more effectively, thereby gaining the understanding required for the Tax Adviser Examination.

1. General information

Applications may be submitted from 1 January and must be received by the relevant Chamber of Tax Advisers in paper form by 30 April at the latest (date of receipt as per postmark). Applications are processed in chronological order according to their date of receipt.

If there is an error in the application for admission (missing or incorrect details, missing forms, etc.), the StBK must be notified immediately (by email or, if in doubt, by means of an informal covering letter accompanied by the submission of supporting documents).

Provided that all admission requirements are met at the time of application, the standard procedures should be followed:

1.1 Evidence

1.1.1 Completion of a first degree in Germany

• Bachelor's degree certificate, together with the Diploma Supplement, or the first or second state law examination.
• Employer’s certificate regarding practical work (Section 36(3) of the German Tax Advisory Act (StBerG)).
• Current CV.
• A recent passport photograph.
• Where applicable, other supporting documents (compulsory military service, community service, statutory maternity protection, compensation for disadvantage).
• Where applicable, evidence of practical experience in the field of taxes administered by the federal or state tax authorities.
• Where applicable, a certificate from the Chamber of Public Accountants (Wirtschaftsprüferkammer) or another competent body confirming appointment as a chartered accountant or certified public accountant, or confirming that the examination to become a chartered accountant or certified public accountant has been passed.
• If not all documents have been submitted at the time of application, the relevant StBK will set a deadline.
• All certificates, documents and attestations must be submitted in a form that has been officially certified (by a notary or a public authority*).
• Documents must be submitted in German (with a certified translation where necessary).

*Notary, local council, KVR, tax office, university

1.1.2 Completion of a first degree abroad

• For details of the required documents, see: Documents for applying for admission to the Tax Adviser Examination

* Degrees from foreign universities

Applicants with degrees from foreign higher education institutions may be admitted to the examination provided that the content and scope of their qualifications are comparable to those of the corresponding German higher education qualifications. The decision on equivalence is usually made on the basis of a statement issued by the Administrative Office of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany – Central Office for Foreign Education.

Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB)
157 Graurheindorfer Straße
53117 Bonn

To have your university qualification assessed, please contact the Central Office for Foreign Education. It is your responsibility to provide evidence of this.

Assessment of foreign higher education qualifications

Important: processing takes 3 months and cannot be expedited, which is why the application must be submitted well in advance.

*This information has been provided by a student on the master's degree programme in Business Taxation. Munich University of Applied Sciences accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of this information. (As at 12/25)

1.2 Payment

• The application fee(€ 200 in Munich) must be paid by bank transfer immediately after submitting the application; the deadline is a maximum of two weeks.
• The examination fee (€1,000) is only payable once you have been granted admission to the examination. You will receive a payment request specifying a deadline.

2. The admission requirements have not yet been (fully) met at the time of application:

A decision on conditional admission to the tax adviser examination is made following consideration of the application, taking the individual circumstances into account.

2.1 Supporting documents at the time of application

In addition to the general information on supporting documents, the following specific points should be taken into account.

• A certified Bachelor’s degree certificate, including the Diploma Supplement, which constitutes the basic requirement for admission to a Master’s programme, and proof of professional experience gained following the first professionally qualifying higher education qualification.
• Employer’s certificate confirming employment up to the date of the application.
• Enrolment notification (cannot and does not need to be certified, as it is not a certificate), if the student is currently still undertaking a course of study which is the prerequisite for final admission.
• If the Bachelor’s degree programme is in a fieldunrelated to the subject, evidence must be provided that at least 20 per cent of the programme consists of law or economics; this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, and advice may also be sought from the StBK.
• If, at the time of application, not all the supporting documents that can currently be provided are available, the StBK will specify a deadline for their subsequent submission, which will be determined on a case-by-case basis. All supporting documents must be submitted no later than the date of the examination (which may also be done at short notice by handing them in in person at the StBK).

2.2 Submission of evidence following conditional admission

• A certified Master’s degree certificate, including the Diploma Supplement.
• Employer’s certificate confirming completion of the required work experience.
• Any other supporting documents—
• Deadlines are determined on a case-by-case basis and will be communicated as part of the conditional offer of admission.

2.3 Payment

• The application fee (€ 200 in Munich) must be paid by bank transfer immediately after submitting the application; the deadline is a maximum of two weeks.
• The examination fee (€1,000) is only payable once you have been conditionally admitted to the examination. You will receive a payment request setting out the relevant deadline.

3. Concluding remarks

In cases of doubt, the relevant StBK should be contacted immediately in order to clarify the matter and to ensure that any case-by-case assessments can be carried out promptly.

The information set out above is based on a telephone conversation between a student on the master's degree programme in Business Taxation and the Munich Chamber of Tax Advisers. Munich University of Applied Sciences accepts no liability for the accuracy of the information.