Fede\u00adral Minis\u00adter for Finan\u00adce Lars Kling\u00adbeil and Fede\u00adral Minis\u00adter for Jus\u00adti\u00adce Dr Ste\u00adfa\u00adnie Hubig have joint\u00adly pre\u00adsen\u00adted an action plan desi\u00adgned to tack\u00adle tax and finan\u00adcial crime in Ger\u00adma\u00adny with far grea\u00adter deter\u00admi\u00adna\u00adti\u00adon. Alt\u00adhough no spe\u00adci\u00adfic draft legis\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon has yet been tab\u00adled, the plan\u00adned mea\u00adsu\u00adres are far-rea\u00adching and affect both busi\u00adnesses and pri\u00adva\u00adte individuals.<\/p>\n
A Joint Cent\u00adre for Com\u00adba\u00adting Tax and Finan\u00adcial Crime is to be estab\u00adlished within the cus\u00adtoms ser\u00advice, whe\u00adre tax inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtors from the fede\u00adral sta\u00adtes and fede\u00adral cus\u00adtoms inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtors will work tog\u00ade\u00adther. The Joint Coun\u00adter-Ter\u00adro\u00adrism Cent\u00adre ser\u00adves as a model for this. In par\u00adal\u00adlel, plans are in place for a data ana\u00adly\u00adsis cent\u00adre that will con\u00adso\u00adli\u00adda\u00adte finan\u00adcial data on a cen\u00adtral plat\u00adform and use arti\u00adfi\u00adci\u00adal intel\u00adli\u00adgence to iden\u00adti\u00adfy sus\u00adpi\u00adcious patterns.<\/p>\n
Of par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar rele\u00advan\u00adce to busi\u00adnesses: from 1 Janu\u00adary 2028, a requi\u00adre\u00adment to use a till will app\u00adly to busi\u00adnesses with an annu\u00adal tur\u00adno\u00adver of more than 100,000 euros. In addi\u00adti\u00adon, an elec\u00adtro\u00adnic VAT report\u00ading sys\u00adtem will be intro\u00addu\u00adced, through which com\u00adpa\u00adnies must report their tur\u00adno\u00adver prompt\u00adly and on a tran\u00adsac\u00adtion-by-tran\u00adsac\u00adtion basis. Fur\u00adther\u00admo\u00adre, the reten\u00adti\u00adon peri\u00adod for accoun\u00adting docu\u00adments is to be exten\u00added from the cur\u00adrent ten years to 15 years in future.<\/p>\n
The pro\u00adpo\u00adsed penal\u00adty ran\u00adge for par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar\u00adly serious cases of orga\u00adnis\u00aded tax crime is to be increased to up to 15 years\u2019 impri\u00adson\u00adment. Serious tax offen\u00adces are also to be clas\u00adsi\u00adfied as cri\u00admes, which ent\u00adails a mini\u00admum pri\u00adson sen\u00adtence of one year. This has direct con\u00adse\u00adquen\u00adces for cri\u00admi\u00adnal pro\u00adcee\u00addings: in the case of cri\u00admes, neither a sum\u00adma\u00adry penal\u00adty order nor a sim\u00adpli\u00adfied dis\u00admis\u00adsal of pro\u00adcee\u00addings is pos\u00adsi\u00adble. Such cases would then have to be heard in open court.<\/p>\n
Par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar\u00adly far-rea\u00adching is the plan\u00adned aboli\u00adti\u00adon of vol\u00adun\u00adt\u00ada\u00adry dis\u00adclo\u00adsure, which curr\u00adent\u00adly offers immu\u00adni\u00adty from pro\u00adse\u00adcu\u00adti\u00adon, in its cur\u00adrent form. Under cur\u00adrent law, tax\u00adpay\u00aders can obtain immu\u00adni\u00adty from pro\u00adse\u00adcu\u00adti\u00adon under Sec\u00adtion 371 of the Tax Code if they pay the eva\u00added tax and a surchar\u00adge of bet\u00adween 10 and 20 per cent. This sche\u00adme is to be abo\u00adlished becau\u00adse, in the view of the minis\u00adtries, it crea\u00adtes the wrong incen\u00adti\u00adves: tho\u00adse who fear detec\u00adtion come for\u00adward, whilst tho\u00adse who feel secu\u00adre remain silent. It is not yet clear what arran\u00adge\u00adment will replace the cur\u00adrent vol\u00adun\u00adt\u00ada\u00adry dis\u00adclo\u00adsure scheme.<\/p>\n
In future, it should be pos\u00adsi\u00adble to impo\u00adse signi\u00adfi\u00adcant\u00adly hig\u00adher fines on com\u00adpa\u00adnies that eva\u00adde tax. In the case of serious offen\u00adces, the\u00adre are also plans to publi\u00adcise the sanc\u00adtions. At Euro\u00adpean level, the Euro\u00adpean Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office is to be streng\u00adthe\u00adned and bet\u00adter fun\u00added so that it can pro\u00adse\u00adcu\u00adte cross-bor\u00adder tax crime more effectively.<\/p>\n
Alt\u00adhough draft legis\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon has yet to be intro\u00addu\u00adced, the action plan sets out a clear direc\u00adtion: the sta\u00adte intends to pur\u00adsue tax eva\u00adsi\u00adon more rigo\u00adrous\u00adly, increase the likeli\u00adhood of detec\u00adtion and, at the same time, signi\u00adfi\u00adcant\u00adly rest\u00adrict the scope for sett\u00adling such cases out of court. Anyo\u00adne who has so far reli\u00aded on vol\u00adun\u00adt\u00ada\u00adry dis\u00adclo\u00adsure as a last resort should fol\u00adlow deve\u00adlo\u00adp\u00adments clo\u00adse\u00adly. If you have any ques\u00adti\u00adons regar\u00adding tax com\u00adpli\u00adance or exis\u00adting risks, it is advi\u00adsa\u00adble to seek advice from a tax advi\u00adser or soli\u00adci\u00adtor at an ear\u00adly stage.<\/p>\n