The Finance Court (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

: Finanzgericht) is a special court. In Germany it is the court of first instance for legal recourse in financial disputes. The judges rule on legal disputes between tax citizens and the tax authorities (tax offices, customs authorities, family funds and the German Federal Pension Insurance Association in matters relating to pension benefits (Section 98 Income Tax Act)). The

punishment Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon a group or individual, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a response and deterrent to a particular acti ...

of tax offenders is not the business of the Fiscal Court. A Fiscal Court is not an extended arm of tax

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, but is independent from it like any other German

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

(

separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...

, also known as trias politica). Except for the (federal) supreme courts, each

federal state A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...

is responsible for organising its own

judicature The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

(

Division of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...

). The Fiscal Courts are listed below: * Fiscal Courts of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

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**

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

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** Münster

* Fiscal Court of ''Baden-Wuerttemberg

* Fiscal Courts of Bavaria

* Fiscal Court of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

- Brandenbur

* Fiscal Court of Bremen

* Fiscal Court of Hamburg

* Fiscal Court of Hesse

* Fiscal Court of Lower Saxony

* Fiscal Court of Saxony-Anhalt

* Fiscal Court of Thuringia

* Fiscal Court of Saxony

* Fiscal Court of ''Schleswig-Holstein

* Fiscal Court of Rhineland-Palatinate

* Fiscal Court of ''Saarland

Appeal court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

in tax and custom matters is the Federal Fiscal Court of Germany (dt.: Bundesfinanzhof)

External links

Official homepage of the Federal Fiscal CourtInformation in English from the Federal Fiscal Court
{{Authority control Administrative courts Courts in Germany Tax courts Taxation in Germany Courts and tribunals with year of establishment missing