According to the Federal Ministry of Finance, more and more taxes are being evaded in Germany.
The amount of evaded taxes determined in judgments and penal orders last year amounts to 1.25 billion euros, according to a letter from the ministry to the FDP financial expert Markus Herbrand, which AFP received on Monday.
This was significantly more than in previous years: in 2019 the total was 745 million euros, in 2018 it was 907 million euros and in 2017 it was 1.21 billion euros.
In a total of 7153 cases, final judgments and penalty orders were issued, according to the letter from the ministry, which was initially reported by the "Süddeutsche Zeitung".
The fines imposed therefore totaled 44.9 million euros.
Herbrand accused Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) of having failed to “take effective action against tax evaders”.
There are "enormous abuses in the fight against sales tax carousels and the prosecution of tax crimes according to the 'cum ex" principle, which the Ministry of Finance has been exposed to despite mantra warnings from the opposition, "criticized the liberal.
This is a "blatant political failure".
Tax fraud is "not a trivial offense and should be punished with all the severity of the law," said Herbrand.