Bio

Niklas Schmidt heads the firm-wide tax team. He is admitted both as a lawyer and as a tax adviser. Before joining the firm in 2000, Niklas worked for several years at a “Big Four” accounting firm and as a research assistant in the tax law department at the University of Vienna. Niklas is frequently engaged as a speaker at international tax conferences and has been a visiting lecturer at various universities in Austria and abroad. He has written several books and many articles in international tax journals. Currently, Niklas is a member of the advisory board of the Digital Asset Association Austria (DAAA) and sits on the editorial board of the Austrian “SteuerExpress” magazine. Furthermore, Niklas is a member of several international organisations (often in leadership positions), including the International Bar Association (IBA), the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and the International Fiscal Association (IFA). Niklas is the immediate past chair of the IBA’s Private Client Tax Committee and in this capacity has been instrumental in organising various conferences. In the field of tax, Niklas deals with a wide range of corporate and private client tax matters. Niklas has particular technical expertise in the area of crypto assets and blockchains, is the author of a German language book on this topic and a co-editor of the leading English language book covering crypto taxation in more than 40 countries. Niklas regularly lectures on crypto assets and is the founder of the WT Crypto Academy.