Rudolf Mellinghoff

Rudolf Mellinghoff has been Honorarprofessor at the University of Tübingen’s Faculty of Law since 2007 and has served as President of the Bundesfinanzhof (Federal Fiscal Court) since 2011. A judge at the Federal Constitutional Court (Second Senate) from 2001-2011, he previously held judgeships at the Finanzgericht and Oberverwaltungsgericht Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and was deputy member of the state constitutional court. His academic work centres on constitutional boundaries of taxation, tax procedure and comparative tax law.

Education:

• 1975-1980: Law studies, University of Münster
• 1980: Erste juristische Staatsprüfung
• 1981-1984: Referendariat, Baden-Württemberg
• 1984: Zweite juristische Staatsprüfung
• 2006: Honorary doctorate, University of Greifswald

Research interests: Mellinghoff’s scholarship focuses on the intersection of constitutional law and taxation, analysing how fundamental rights and federal structure constrain and shape German and European tax legislation. He has written extensively on VAT, income taxation, tax procedure, tax penalties and the jurisprudence of the Bundesfinanzhof, advocating systematic and constitutionally coherent tax reform.

His more than 150 articles and commentaries explore digitalisation challenges for tax law, the relationship between national courts and the CJEU, and the historical development of German tax jurisprudence. Recurrent themes are legal certainty, equality, and the democratic legitimacy of tax rules.

Scientific honours:

• Großes Verdienstkreuz mit Stern und Schulterband (2011)
• Ehrendoktorwürde, University of Greifswald (2006)

Editorial & professional roles: Since 1987 co-editor of the Großkommentar zum Einkommensteuergesetz (20 vols.), member of the Permanent Scientific Committee of the International Fiscal Association, vice-chair of the German Section of the International Commission of Jurists, chair of the advisory board of the Steuerrechtswissenschaftliche Vereinigung Heidelberg, and member of the European Association of Tax Law Professors and the Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea.