Internal reporting office

Reporting office under the Whistleblower Protection Act

of VRT Partnerschaft mbB Wirtschaftsprüfer – Steuerberater – Rechtsanwälte.
This is the reporting office of VRT Partnerschaft mbB Wirtschaftsprüfer Steuerberater Rechtsanwälte. Here you have the opportunity to report and disclose information about violations obtained in connection with your professional activities or in the run-up to professional activities. You can submit your report via the link below. The report will be sent to the VRT reporting office representative. Your name will not be passed on to the VRT management.

Submit a report here

You are free to provide your contact details. Providing this information is voluntary – however, anonymous reports cannot be processed. If you wish, you can also attach documents to your email (maximum 20 MB per email).

Further information on the reporting office

1. Who can report?
All persons who have obtained information about violations in connection with their professional activity or in preparation for a professional activity and who report or disclose this information to the reporting offices provided for under this law can make reports.

2. What are relevant violations?
You can report all actions or omissions that occurred in the context of professional, business or official activities and that are unlawful and concern regulations or legal areas that fall within the material scope of application according to § 2 of the Whistleblower Protection Act of 31.05.2023 (“HinSchG”).

These are specifically violations that are subject to criminal penalties and violations that are subject to administrative fines, insofar as the violated provision serves to protect life, limb or health or to protect the rights of employees or their representative bodies, other violations against legal provisions to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, product safety and conformity, public procurement, financial services, tax law – specifically also in the form of agreements aimed at obtaining a tax advantage in an abusive manner that runs counter to the goal or purpose of tax law applicable to corporations and commercial partnerships, and other provisions mentioned in § 2 HinSchG.

Abusive actions or omissions that run counter to the goal or purpose of the regulations in the provisions or legal areas that fall within the material scope of application according to § 2 HinSchG can also be reported.

3. What happens if the reported violation is not relevant?
The reporting office examines the reported information and informs you whether the violation is relevant. If it is not relevant, you have nothing to fear. You are still protected. The requirement of confidentiality of identity applies regardless of whether the reporting office is responsible for the incoming report. The only requirement is that at the time of reporting, you had sufficient reason to believe that the reported information concerns violations that fall within the scope of application of the Whistleblower Protection Act.

4. What information can you submit?
You can report all information to the reporting office that you believe could be relevant according to § 2 HinSchG. You can simply name the information or also disclose it immediately – i.e., make it accessible. Use the upload link provided here to send the information to the reporting office. The maximum size of such a data package can be 25 MB. If you wish to disclose larger data packages, you can use the upload link multiple times or contact the reporting office to arrange another method of transmission.

5. Should you report here or through a public, state reporting office?
Persons who intend to report information about a violation can choose whether to contact this reporting office or an external reporting office. These persons should prefer reporting to an internal reporting office in cases where effective action can be taken internally against the violation and they do not fear reprisals. If an internally reported violation has not been remedied, the whistleblower remains free to contact an external reporting office. It is prohibited to obstruct or attempt to obstruct reports or the communication following a report between the whistleblower and the reporting office.

6. Are names and facts treated confidentially?
The reporting offices must maintain the confidentiality of the identity of the persons involved: These are the whistleblowing person, provided the reported information concerns violations that fall within the scope of application of this law, or the whistleblowing person had sufficient reason at the time of reporting to believe that this was the case. The names of persons who are the subject of a report and other persons mentioned in the report are also treated confidentially. The identity of the whistleblowing person may only be known to persons at the reporting office. The requirement of confidentiality of identity applies regardless of whether the reporting office is responsible for the incoming report.

7. Is your identity exceptionally not protected?
The identity of a whistleblowing person who intentionally or with gross negligence reports incorrect information about violations is not protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act.

Information about the identity of a whistleblowing person or about other circumstances that allow conclusions about the identity of this person may also be passed on to the competent authority in certain cases. This applies specifically in criminal proceedings at the request of law enforcement authorities, due to an order in an administrative procedure following a report, including administrative fine proceedings, or due to a court decision. Meanwhile, the reporting office must inform the whistleblowing person in advance about the disclosure. This should be refrained from if the law enforcement authority, the competent authority or the court has informed the reporting office that the information would endanger the corresponding investigations, examinations or court proceedings. The reasons for the disclosure must be explained to the whistleblowing person in writing or electronically along with the information.

Furthermore, information about the identity of the whistleblowing person or about other circumstances that allow conclusions about the identity of this person may be disclosed if the disclosure is necessary for follow-up measures and the whistleblowing person has previously consented to the disclosure. However, consent must be provided separately and in text form for each individual disclosure of information about the identity.

8. Can you also submit a report anonymously?
You can also report or disclose information anonymously. The internal reporting office should also process anonymously received reports. However, there is no obligation to design the reporting channels in such a way that they enable the submission of anonymous reports.

9. Who works at the reporting office?
The persons entrusted with the tasks of an internal reporting office have the necessary expertise. They are independent in the exercise of their activities. They may perform other tasks and duties in addition to their activity for the internal reporting office. It must be ensured that such tasks and duties do not lead to conflicts of interest.

10. What happens to your report?
The internal reporting office confirms receipt of a report to the whistleblowing person within seven days at the latest. It examines whether the reported violation falls within the material scope of application according to § 2 HinSchG. In doing so, it maintains contact with the whistleblowing person and examines the validity of the received report. It requests additional information from the whistleblowing person if necessary. If applicable, it takes appropriate follow-up measures.

11. Do you receive feedback?
Within three months after confirming receipt of the report, it provides feedback to the whistleblowing person. The feedback includes notification of planned and already taken follow-up measures as well as the reasons for them. Meanwhile, feedback to the whistleblowing person may only be provided insofar as internal investigations or inquiries are not affected and the rights of persons who are the subject of a report or who are mentioned in the report are not impaired.

12. What follow-up measures can the reporting office take?
As follow-up measures, the internal reporting office can in particular conduct internal investigations at the affected employer or at the respective organizational unit and contact affected persons and work units, refer the whistleblowing person to other competent authorities, conclude the procedure due to lack of evidence or for other reasons, or transfer the procedure for further investigations to a work unit responsible for internal investigations at the employer or at the respective organizational unit or to a competent authority.

13. Do you need to fear reprisals?
Reprisals directed against whistleblowing persons are prohibited. This also applies to the threat and attempt to exercise reprisals. If a whistleblowing person suffers a disadvantage in connection with their professional activity and claims to have suffered this disadvantage as a result of a report or disclosure under the Whistleblower Protection Act, it is presumed that this disadvantage is a reprisal for this report or disclosure. In this case, the person who disadvantaged the whistleblowing person must prove that the disadvantage was based on sufficiently justified reasons or that it was not based on the report or disclosure. In case of a violation of the prohibition of reprisals, the perpetrator is obliged to compensate the whistleblowing person for the resulting damage. A violation of the prohibition of reprisals does not establish a claim to the establishment of an employment relationship, a vocational training relationship or another contractual relationship or to professional advancement.

14. False reports
False reports are without consequences if at the time of reporting you had sufficient reason to believe that the reported information concerns violations that fall within the scope of application of the Whistleblower Protection Act. The whistleblowing person is obliged to compensate for damage that arose from an intentional or grossly negligent report or disclosure of incorrect information.

Submit a report here