Deutsches wissenschaftliches Institut der Steuerberater

What Deutsches wissenschaftliches Institut der Steuerberater does

Deutsches wissenschaftliches Institut der Steuerberater e.V. (DWS-Institut) is a non-profit association (eingetragener Verein) founded in 1963 and headquartered in Berlin at Wallstraße 58/59. It operates as a bridge between academic tax law theory and professional practice for the German tax advisory profession, serving Steuerberater (tax advisors), Steuerberaterinnen, and tax consulting companies. Its mission is to support tax advisors in their daily professional practice through independent, expert-level tax law opinions and academic engagement with the profession.

The institute's core product is the Steuerrechtsgutachten — a manually prepared, independent expert tax law opinion authored by qualified tax law experts on the basis of current case law and literature. Opinions are commissioned on a per-matter basis via direct email request, with a 100 EUR (plus 19% VAT) processing fee credited against a final fixed-price quote. In parallel, the institute operates two Wissenschaftliche Arbeitskreise (scientific working groups) on Tax Law (Steuerrecht) and Professional Law (Berufsrecht), chaired by tenured professors, which issue position statements on current issues. It publishes the DWS-Schriftenreihe and contributes to the DStR (Deutsche Steuerrecht) journal, hosts the annual DWS-Symposium and DWS-Berufsrechtstagung in Berlin (now also live-streamed), and awards the 3,000 EUR DWS-Wissenschaftspreis annually to outstanding tax law dissertations.

The institute has a very small core delivery team (a Managing Director, a Referentin, and an Assistant), with substantive work performed by an extended network of academic tax law scholars. Revenue is not publicly disclosed; operations are sustained by the fees from commissioned opinions, annual events, and the institutional backing of the Bundessteuerberaterkammer, whose President simultaneously chairs the DWS Board. A subsidiary, DWS Steuerberater Medien GmbH, handles publishing and media-adjacent operations co-located at the Berlin headquarters. There is no technology product and no AI component to the service.

Name

Deutsches wissenschaftliches Institut der Steuerberater

Legal name

Deutsches wissenschaftliches Institut der Steuerberater e.V.

Website

https://dws-institut.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1963

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The DWS-Institut is a Berlin-based non-profit association founded in 1963 that provides independent expert tax law opinions, academic working group output, and annual conferences to support German tax advisors in their professional practice, under the institutional umbrella of the Bundessteuerberaterkammer.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Tax Advisory Research Services

NAICS

All Other Legal Services (541199), Other Accounting Services (541219)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Litigation Support & Expert Witness Services (BPAHALAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Tax Law (BPAHAAAG), Tax Policy, Legislation & Rulings (BPAIADAA), Dispute Resolution, Appeals & Tax Tribunals (BPAIADAK)

Keywords

• Tax law opinions
• Professional tax advisory
• Tax law research
• Scientific tax publications
• Tax consultancy expertise

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Tax Law Expert Opinions (Steuerrechtsgutachten): The DWS-Institut generates revenue through the preparation of independent tax law expert opinions for tax advisors, tax attorneys, and tax consulting companies. The fee is based on estimated time investment depending on the scope and difficulty of the underlying question. A processing fee of 100.00 EUR (plus 19% VAT) is charged upfront, which is credited against the final invoice. Fixed-price quotes are provided after initial assessment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The DWS-Institut prepares independent, expert tax law opinions (Steuerrechtsgutachten) for German tax advisors and tax consulting companies, charging an upfront processing fee of EUR 100 plus VAT and providing fixed-price quotes based on the estimated time and complexity of the underlying tax law question. Beyond commissioned opinions, the institute operates two scientific working groups (Steuerrecht and Berufsrecht) that issue position statements, publishes academic works through the DWS-Verlag, awards the annual DWS-Wissenschaftspreis, and runs the annual DWS-Symposium and DWS-Berufsrechtstagung.

Product overview

DWS-Institut operates as a unified service organization offering a portfolio of professional services for German tax consultants. The core offerings include: Steuerrechtsgutachten (expert tax law opinions) as a premium advisory service; two Wissenschaftliche Arbeitskreise (scientific working groups) on Steuerrecht and Berufsrecht that produce position statements; Publikationen (publications) including the DWS-Schriftenreihe and DStR journal supplements; the DWS-Wissenschaftspreis (science prize) awarded annually for outstanding academic theses; and two major annual events – the DWS-Symposium and DWS-Berufsrechtstagung. The organization also offers Live-Streams for remote participation in events. All services are interconnected, supporting tax professionals through expert opinions, academic discourse, publications, and professional development events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DWS-Symposium: Annual tax law symposium organized by the scientific working group on tax law
• DWS-Berufsrechtstagung
• DWS-Wissenschaftspreis

Products and services

• Steuerrechtsgutachten (Tax Law Expert Opinions) Independent, objective expert tax law opinions prepared by qualified tax law scholars, commissioned by tax advisors and tax consulting companies to support legal positions in complex or unusual tax matters, audits, and litigation. An upfront processing fee (EUR 100 plus VAT) is credited against a fixed-price quote.
• Wissenschaftliche Arbeitskreise (Scientific Working Groups) Two scholarly working groups — Steuerrecht (Tax Law) and Berufsrecht (Professional Law) — composed of university professors and leading practitioners who draft position statements on current fundamental issues in German tax law and tax-advisor professional regulations.
• Publikationen (Publications) Tax law publications including the DWS-Schriftenreihe series, supplements in the DStR (Deutsche Steuerrecht) journal, and academic papers on tax law and tax-advisor professional regulations. All publications are freely downloadable from the institute's website.
• DWS-Wissenschaftspreis (Science Prize) Annual prize of EUR 3,000 awarded to outstanding academic theses, particularly dissertations, in the fields of tax law, business taxation, or fiscal sciences, supporting the academic pipeline for German tax scholarship.
• DWS-Symposium (Annual Tax Law Symposium) Annual symposium held in Berlin at the Quadriga Forum, organized by the Steuerrecht working group, presenting a current tax law topic to the professional public and feeding into the institute's scholarly agenda.
• DWS-Berufsrechtstagung (Professional Law Conference) Annual scientific conference in Berlin at the Quadriga Forum organized by the Berufsrecht working group, addressing current topics and trends in tax advisor professional law.
• Live-Streams of DWS Events Live-streaming of the DWS-Symposia and DWS-Berufsrechtstagungen enabling remote participation by tax professionals unable to attend in person at the Berlin venues.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bundessteuerberaterkammer (German Chamber of Tax Advisors)coreOthersThe DWS-Institut maintains a close institutional relationship with the Bundessteuerberaterkammer. The institute's Chairman of the Board (Vorstandsvorsitzender) serves simultaneously as President of the Bundessteuerberaterkammer. The chamber is the national professional body representing German tax advisors.
• DWS Steuerberater Medien GmbHminorOthersDWS Steuerberater Medien GmbH is a subsidiary of the DWS-Institut and co-locates with the institute at its Berlin headquarters. It operates the web analytics (Matomo) for the institute's website and is listed as a partner. The company is also known as DWS-Medien.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Haufe Group: Major German provider of tax-law commentaries, professional publishing, and digital workflow tools for tax advisors. Overlaps with DWS-Institut's publishing and professional reference activities on a much larger commercial scale.
• NWB Verlag (Neue Wirtschafts-Briefe): Established German tax-law publisher producing commentaries, journals, and practitioner references. Comparable to DWS-Institut's publication arm (DWS-Schriftenreihe, DStR supplements) but operating at commercial scale.
• DATEV eG: Large German cooperative providing tax-advisor software, data, and professional services. Much broader portfolio but serves the same tax advisor customer base that DWS-Institut supports with expert opinions.
• Stollfuß Verlag (Stotax): Long-standing German tax publishing house producing loose-leaf tax commentaries and professional references. Comparable publishing model to DWS-Verlag, serving the same tax advisor readership.

Direct peers

• Bundessteuerberaterkammer (BStBK): National chamber of German tax advisors and the closest institutional affiliate of DWS-Institut. The DWS chairman is simultaneously BStBK president, making this a peer in professional governance and standards-setting for the tax advisory profession.
• Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW): German professional institute that issues independent expert opinions and technical pronouncements for a regulated profession (auditors). Operates the same model as DWS-Institut but for Wirtschaftsprüfer, with similar academic-practitioner structure and chamber affiliation.

Emerging players

• International Fiscal Association (IFA): Global scientific association for tax law and fiscal research. Comparable academic/research orientation to DWS-Institut but operating internationally with a broader membership model rather than fee-for-service opinions.
• ZEW – Centre for European Economic Research: German economic research institute producing tax-policy studies and fiscal research. Adjacent to DWS-Institut's academic tax-law work, particularly the working group publications and Wissenschaftspreis-eligible dissertations.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dws-institut

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

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