Wirtschaftstreuhänder

Chartered Accountants (German: Wirtschaftstreuhänder), in Austria, term referring to all members of professions such as tax consultants, certified accountants and chartered accountants. The latter two are always tax consultants as well. They exercise liberal professions which are regulated by the Wirtschaftstreuhänder-Berufsordnung (Professional Regulations for Chartered Accountants, WTBG) enacted in 1999. Tax consultants have to meet very high personal and professional standards. Chartered accountants consult or examine enterprises in fields such as accounting and balance-sheet auditing, matters relating to tax law and cost calculation. They can also represent their clients in tax levy and tax evasion proceedings before financial authorities. Several auditing tasks, including the auditing of the annual statement of accounts of joint-stock companies, are reserved to chartered accountants. On June 1, 2000 there were 6,498 chartered accountants in Austria.