Succession, equity & structures
Tax advisory thatshapes instead of administers.
Succession, wealth transfer, equity, restructuring, cross-border matters: we advise on the topics others won't touch. For the German Mittelstand, business families and private clients just as much as for startups and scaleups.
Why Vantoya
We take on what other firms turn down
Structuring advice at this level is usually only available at the Big 4. For us, it's everyday business, with a direct contact for you and no corporate overhead.
Topics other firms shy away from
- Conversions, VSOPs, cross-border matters
- Where other firms wave you off, we get started
- We were built for exactly these cases
Tax with us, legal through strong partners
- Tax structuring we do ourselves
- Legal matters we solve through our lawyer network
- With partner firms, coordinated through Vantoya
With us there are no off-the-shelf packages
- We listen to what matters to you
- The result comes in the form you work with best
- As an opinion, a calculation or a presentation
What applies to you?
Private Clients & Family OfficesPrivate Clients& Family Offices
Shape wealth, secure succession
Succession optimised for inheritance and gift tax, clear structures for wealth that has grown over time, cross-border matters: the topics you don't leave to chance.
Succession & gifting
Hand over early and strategically, without losing control
Many know they should transfer early for tax reasons and still hesitate. Out of concern about losing control or not being provided for in the end. That's exactly what structuring is for, and together we find the best solution for your situation.
- Usufruct: income keeps flowing to you
- Transfer in exchange for a pension or recurring charge
- Keep voting rights and management
- Use allowances: 400,000 € per child, renewed every ten years
- Family home: up to 100 % free of gift tax
Wealth & company structure
From tangled growth to a clear structure
A GmbH founded here, an equity stake added there: over the years a web forms that is hard to handle and that costs unnecessary tax. We reorder it: holding, real estate company, clean ownership structures. With conversions and contributions, delivered through advice at the highest level.
- Set up holding structures tax-neutrally
- Conversion, share swap, spin-off
- Privileged business assets: 85–100 % tax relief
Cross-border matters
Wealth knows no borders, and we help here too
Property in Switzerland, a securities account in Luxembourg, a stake in the USA: as soon as wealth sits abroad, the German Foreign Tax Act and double taxation treaties apply. We take responsibility for the German side and bring in local expertise through our partner network.
- Foreign Tax Act & double taxation treaties, our core
- Partner firms in Switzerland, Luxembourg, the USA and Cyprus
- One point of contact for everything
Services at a glance
What we shape for you
Structuring advice means: we don't wait for the tax return, we build the structures that save tax before facts are set in stone.
- Succession advice
- Anticipated succession, gifting & inheritance, tax-optimised for the next generation
- Wealth transfer
- Real estate, business assets and company shares, with usufruct, pension or recurring charge
- Restructuring
- Holding structures, conversions, share swaps, spin-offs
- International tax law
- Foreign Tax Act, double taxation treaties and partner firms abroad
- Legal through strong partners
- Legal matters solved through our lawyer network instead of passed along
- Opinions & second opinions
- We prepare results the way you need them
Let's shape your taxes together
Tell us briefly what it's about, and we'll show you what's possible on the tax side.
These companies trust us
Startups, ScaleUps & Mittelstand
Advice that keeps up with your ambitions
Equity programs, founding with a backstory, structures for growth and exit, and in the Mittelstand the taxes of company and family. Where others see limits, we find solutions.
Founding & contribution
You've already started but haven't founded yet? No problem.
The classic case: work has been going on for half a year, there are clients, expenses, maybe first revenue, and now the GmbH is to be founded. Whatever already exists has to move into the company in a tax-clean way. We find the path that stays lean and still keeps you safe. And if you're starting from scratch, we support your founding just the same: for example with the choice of legal form from a tax perspective, a holding structure right from the start, or the initial tax setup. For legal questions we team up with partner law firms.
- Contribute an existing business cleanly
- Pragmatic instead of overly complex
- Clear the pitfalls before founding
Growth, expansion & exit
We grow with you
The first holding above the operating GmbH, the US entity, the next financing round: growth means restructuring. We support and shape it with you while the business keeps running: conversion, share swap, new entities abroad, investors on the cap table. And we factor in due diligence and exit from the very start.
- Restructuring & holding without standstill
- Structure a US entity & international expansion
- Financing rounds & exit: ready for any due diligence
Financing & equity
A cap table that also works with the tax office
We see it regularly: startups and scaleups juggle a mix of financing and equity instruments, each treated differently for tax, and many firms bail out at that complexity. For us it's core business: we structure the full spectrum of investor, founder and employee participations on solid legal ground, from the setup through taxation to clean documentation.
- CLA, shares, debt, VSOP, ESOP & real shares under §19a
- Tax-cleanly structured and documented
- Legal implementation factored in through our partner law firm
Innovative SMEs
Company and family, thought through as one for tax
In a family business, the company is never just a company: on one side there's the holding structure, equity stakes and foreign business, on the other succession, shares and private wealth. The classic case on our desk is exactly this mix: complexity grown across companies and an unresolved handover. We advise the company and private sides together, instead of shuttling you back and forth between two advisors. Is your focus mainly on inheritance and private wealth? Then read on under Private Clients & Family Offices further up this page.
- Company structure and succession thought through together
- Order the tangle before the handover is due
- One tax team for company and family
Services at a glance
What we shape for you
From the first share to the exit: these topics, among others, land on the table in every growth phase and get cleanly solved on the tax and legal side.
- Employee equity
- VSOP, ESOP and §19a: structured and audit-proof
- Founding advice
- Legal form, cash founding or contribution for the right start
- Contribution & conversion
- Move an existing business into the new company in a tax-clean way
- Holding structures
- Set up tax-neutrally before a financing round or exit comes up
- International expansion
- US subsidiary & more, with double taxation treaties and partner firms on the ground
- Legal through strong partners
- Legal matters solved through our lawyer network instead of leaving you to deal with them alone
„We regularly advise on topics where other firms say: we can't, we won't. That's exactly where it starts for us.“
Tax advisory, Vantoya
Specialised, not a bit of everything for everyone
We work for three client groups and know their topics in detail: from the first funding round to business succession.
„Vantoya delivers advice to the point: fast, precise, and thorough. We keep only what demonstrably works and rethink tax advisory on that basis. The result is a modern service with efficient solutions that give our clients more clarity, less effort, and measurable benefits.“
Board Member & Head of Tax, Vantoya
Frequently asked questions about tax advisory
The points where wealth, succession and structuring most often get stuck, answered clearly. If your topic isn't here, just drop us a line: the first assessment comes with no detours.
- Bookkeeping
- Payroll
- Tax returns & annual financial statements
- Succession and gifting
- Company and holding structures
- Equity programs
- Cross-border matters
At Vantoya you get both from one source, with the structuring built on your live numbers.
Tax advice is protected by law in Germany under the Steuerberatungsgesetz: in essence, only tax advisors (Steuerberater), auditors and lawyers may advise comprehensively; beyond that there are narrow exceptions such as wage tax assistance associations for employees. At Vantoya, every structure comes from our tax advisors; legal matters we solve with the lawyers from our network.
As early as possible: the allowances renew every ten years, and structures like usufruct have more effect the earlier they take hold. But even when facts are already set, we'll always find the way that works best for you.
No, not unless you want to. That's exactly where we come in. Usufruct, voting-rights arrangements or a transfer in exchange for a pension make sure income and influence stay with you, even though ownership passes on.
That's not something you have to handle yourself. Company-law matters that inevitably come up with structuring, we solve together with the lawyers from our network, coordinated through Vantoya, so you keep one point of contact.
Yes. The Foreign Tax Act and double taxation treaties are German tax law, and that's our core. For the foreign side, we work with partner firms on the ground.
No, but it needs to be handled cleanly. If there were already clients, revenue or expenses before founding, the existing business has to be contributed into the company correctly for tax. We keep that as lean as possible.
Contact
Shape your taxes instead of just paying them
Tell us briefly about your situation, and we'll get back to you with a first assessment and the next steps.
More services
What else we handle for you
Financial accounting
Receipts flow to us directly through interfaces: integration instead of retyping, with human review.
Learn morePayroll accounting
Payroll for startups, scale-ups and the Mittelstand, including the complex cases others turn away.
Learn moreAnnual accounts & tax returns
Reviewed in a four-eyes process, filed on time and cleanly documented, genuinely finished.
Learn more