©panthermedia.net/Ihor Molchanov
14.04.2016
NRW forwards data on suspected tax evasions to more than twenty countries
The revenue service of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia last week forwarded electronic records to more than twenty countries in Europe for scrutiny and to help prosecute tax evaders. Modelled on earlier cooperation with Greece, information on holders of Swiss bank accounts was sent to the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) and passed on to the various authorities.
Simultaneously, the Minister for Finance, Norbert Walter-Borjans, informed his opposite numbers in those countries. ’The account details discovered by our tax investigators during their inquiries into a number of banks refer not only to German taxpayers’, the Minister said. ‘So, it goes without saying that we ought to share the data with the other authorities. With tax evaders using international channels, why should the revenue services not cooperate across borders?’
The account data had been obtained by NRW revenue investigators during their inquiries into the banks for facilitating tax evasion and from purchased storage mediums. The data contains information on private individuals and corporations with accounts worth a total of up to 101 billion Swiss francs (roughly €93bn). In a next step, it will now have to be verified whether or not all the taxes were properly paid.
At the same time, North Rhine-Westphalia does more than supplying data to other countries. The expertise of NRW tax investigators is much in demand. Representatives from numerous authorities have learnt from their NRW counterparts about the acquisition and analysis of ‘tax CDs’ and about missing trader schemes, the so-called VAT carousel fraud. ‘We are glad to share our knowledge with other countries eager to clamp down on tax evasion’, the Minister said, ‘and we are in a very good place to do this, thanks to the productive work of our tax investigators’. The ”Panama Papers” are another reminder that tax evasion is not exclusively fuelled by the greed of individuals but supported by dedicated structures. Joining forces to fight them is the way forward.
For more information link in here.
Simultaneously, the Minister for Finance, Norbert Walter-Borjans, informed his opposite numbers in those countries. ’The account details discovered by our tax investigators during their inquiries into a number of banks refer not only to German taxpayers’, the Minister said. ‘So, it goes without saying that we ought to share the data with the other authorities. With tax evaders using international channels, why should the revenue services not cooperate across borders?’
The account data had been obtained by NRW revenue investigators during their inquiries into the banks for facilitating tax evasion and from purchased storage mediums. The data contains information on private individuals and corporations with accounts worth a total of up to 101 billion Swiss francs (roughly €93bn). In a next step, it will now have to be verified whether or not all the taxes were properly paid.
At the same time, North Rhine-Westphalia does more than supplying data to other countries. The expertise of NRW tax investigators is much in demand. Representatives from numerous authorities have learnt from their NRW counterparts about the acquisition and analysis of ‘tax CDs’ and about missing trader schemes, the so-called VAT carousel fraud. ‘We are glad to share our knowledge with other countries eager to clamp down on tax evasion’, the Minister said, ‘and we are in a very good place to do this, thanks to the productive work of our tax investigators’. The ”Panama Papers” are another reminder that tax evasion is not exclusively fuelled by the greed of individuals but supported by dedicated structures. Joining forces to fight them is the way forward.
For more information link in here.