• Born on 23 October 1949

• Law studies at Vienna University, graduated Dr. iuris in 1972

Tax official (assessment branch) at a tax office in Vienna (1973 – 1975). In 1975 he moved to the Federal Ministry of Finance, International Tax Affairs Division, where he became Deputy Head of the International Tax Law Division in 1997; in 2007 he was appointed Head of the International Tax Law Division (tax treaty law, domestic law on international tax relations, laws on mutual administrative assistance). In this capacity he acted as: Head of Delegation in Austrian tax treaty negotiations; Permanent Austrian Delegate to Working Party 1 of the CFA (Tax Treaty Issues), Committee of Fiscal Affairs (CFA), Forum on Harmful Tax Practices, Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes; former Vice Chair of Working Party 8 of the OECD-Committee on Fiscal Affairs (tax avoidance & evasion), now Working Party 10; BEPS Focus Groups and the MLI ad hoc group; participant in Working Groups of the EU concerning mutual administrative assistance. In this capacity he was also responsible for the domestic legislation in the field of mutual assistance (exchange of information) and transfer pricing legislation (Country by Country Reporting).

He retired as the Head of the International Tax Law Division in the Ministry of Finance at the end of November and continues there in a part time consultancy position. From December 1st 2016 to December 31st 2019 Senior Scientist at the Institute of Austrian and International Tax Law at WU.   Honorary Professor at the University of Economics and Business Administration (WU) in Vienna (since 2011); former lecturer at the Austrian Tax Academy (International Tax Law); Member of the Faculty of the Postgraduate International Tax Law at the WU, Member of the Board of Examiners for Chartered Accountants at the Chamber of Chartered Accountants in Vienna (Tax Law); Author (co-author) of numerous articles and books on international tax law; Co-author of the Commentary on International Tax Law (MANZ, Vienna).