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Our Firm Philipp Behrendt

Behrendt@taxlitigator.com Phone: 310-281-3202
Fax: 310-573-8427 Download Vcard

Philipp Behrendt is licensed in California as well as in Germany and assists in advising clients in civil and criminal tax controversies as well as international money laundering investigations stemming from tax avoidance structures.  He also focuses on the technical aspects involved in  advising voluntary disclosures in connection with DeFis, NFTs, and other crypto assets.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Behrendt worked for more than 5 years for a leading German tax firm, where he focused on representing wealthy individuals and companies in global tax settings, cross-border investigations and audit matters, as well as tax compliance issues arising from internationally functioning matrix structures.  Mr. Behrendt obtained experience in  handling complex voluntary disclosure issues for U.S. and other international companies, representing clients in German tax and criminal courts as well as in international money laundering investigations stemming from tax avoidance structures of the client’s business partners and customers.  He has worked with client tax teams throughout Europe, the US as well as in the Arabic region. 

Mr. Behrendt is an LL.M. graduate of the University of Southern California (USC) Gould School of Law, an LL.M. graduate of the University of Osnabrueck (Germany) as well as holds a law degree from the University of Greifswald (Germany).

Bar Admittance:

  • State Bar of California
  • German Bar

Education:

  • University of Southern California (LL.M.)
  • University of Osnabrueck (LL.M. Program White Collar Crime)
  • University of Greifswald (German law diploma)

Membership

  • American Bar Association Member and Vice-Chair of the Young Lawyer Leaders for Global Anti-Corruption Committee – July 2019-Present
  • American Bar Association Member White-Collar Crime Division – July 2019- Present

Publications & Speaking Activities

  • “An Update on Cryptocurrency Enforcement and Voluntary Disclosures” – UCLA 39th Annual Tax Controversy Institute
  • “Ethical Considerations for Tax Attorneys in Changing Work Environment” – ABA Virtual 2023 Fall Tax Meeting
  • “Cryptocurrency Tax Compliance” – CalCPA
  • “New Developments in Cryptocurrency Reporting and Enforcement” – CPA Academy
  • “The Ins and Outs of Tax Audits” – Beverly Hills Bar Association
  • “Tax Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act” – Beverly Hills Bar Association
  • “Tax Evasion as a Predicate Offense for Money Laundering under German and US Law” – ZIS 4/2020, 196
  • “Taxation of Crypto Currency – the digital foreign currency account” – DstA 2018, 342 (co-author Sven Janken; in German)
  • “GateKeepers: AML Compliance for Legal and Tax Advisors” – PStR 1028, 140 (co-author Johann Meyer; in German)
  • “The Act of Combating Tax Avoidance – New big data volumes for the tax authorities” – WiJ 2018 (co-author Johann Meyer; in German)
  • American Bar Association Panel on Impact of Panama Papers