It should be possible to confiscate profits from complex illegal transactions, such as Cum-Ex short selling, more consistently. On 8 May 2026, the Bundesrat agreed to table a corresponding bill in the German Bundestag.
The Supreme Tax Court has held that the prohibition on claiming a deduction for bribes also includes the legal costs of an unsuccessful defence as well as the court-ordered confiscation of the profits from the corrupt trading. A deduction for the confiscation would only be possible if the amount had not been calculated net of tax.
