The recently activated reporting portal of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Finance for anonymous tax reports made it into the election campaign: With catchphrases such as “Tax Stasi”, the critics document in the eyes of some people that they have forgotten history, but at the same time they are uncomfortable with private hobby informers.
However, German finance ministries have been working with anonymous advertisements for a long time;
so far, however, they have been received by email, letter or telephone.
Hendrik Kafsack
Business correspondent in Brussels.
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Winand von Petersdorff-Campen
Business correspondent in Washington.
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Philip Plickert
Business correspondent based in London.
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Christian Schubert
Business correspondent in Paris.
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What has completely disappeared in the debate so far: Other governments are also trying to win over fellow citizens to help uncover tax evasion - and are even offering bonuses for doing so.
The United States is the country with the greatest whistleblower tradition.
Whistleblowers have exposed secret surveillance programs, official lies about the Vietnam War and falsification of accounts.
The case of the former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld, who uncovered tax tricks at the Swiss bank UBS, was spectacular.
For his contribution, Birkenfeld received the amount of 104 million dollars from the US Treasury, around a quarter of the amount that UBS has to pay.
Birkenfeld had to go to jail anyway.
The case reveals two peculiarities: The US Treasury's whistleblower program only accepts reports from people who reveal their names.
You can expect rewards of 15 to 30 percent of the sum that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a federal agency subordinate to the Treasury Department, collects for the information.
Several thresholds are supposed to prevent crude denunciation from the investigators.
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The reported taxpayer must have an annual income of at least $ 200,000 and the expected back payment, including penalties and interest, must exceed $ 2 million. In addition, the reward is only paid out once the tax case is closed. That takes between six and ten years. Last year, thanks to nationwide whistleblowers, the tax authorities brought in around $ 472 million. He paid out just under $ 87 million to 169 whistleblowers, an average of $ 514,000 per capita. In total, the tax authorities raised $ 61.5 billion and distributed $ 1 billion in the whistleblower program that has been in place since 2007.
France also dispenses with anonymous reports. The tax administration pays no attention to them. But anyone who answers by his name for information that helps uncover a major international tax offense can expect financial recognition of up to one million euros. In 2017 the government introduced this as an "experiment" and extended it in 2019. 2.7 million euros were budgeted for 2017 - far less than in the USA.
In 2004, the then Minister of Economic Affairs, Nicolas Sarkozy, abolished the general remuneration of tax notices.
It was a practice for decades, but it had an uncertain legal basis.
Tax advisors stress that the government does not pay today for denouncing a neighbor for a simple tax offense.
It must be a big case with cross-border implications, such as the affairs of the "Panama Papers".
It is being examined whether the upper reward limit of one million euros should be abolished, for example because some whistleblowers take high personal risks.
The British reported over 70,000 and Belgians over 3000 cases
In the UK there is no money for denouncing tax evaders. The British authorities are also happy to receive information - confidentially, but generally not anonymously. Citizens can report suspected fraud via an Internet portal or a telephone hotline. Whistleblowers are allowed to withhold their names on the phone. The tax authorities ask for information on sales tax or customs evasion, social security fraud or fraudulent social benefits.
At the same time, the tax authority HMRC warns citizens: You should just not try to investigate yourself or play detective. Around 200 reports were received on the day, a total of 73,000 in the tax year before Corona. The number increases slightly year after year. The tax authorities investigated 250 people and 23 larger companies for serious tax fraud, which can also be punished with imprisonment. In the Corona crisis there was a sharp increase in indications of fraud involving state short-time working or wage replacement benefits. 4,500 employees reported that employers were allegedly cheating.
In Belgium - whose citizens are said to have a somewhat relaxed tax morale - a total of 3500 reports of alleged tax evasion were received last year, more than ever before. In the previous year it was just under 2250. A large part of this was done anonymously, but a considerable proportion of the tipsters also gave his name. There is no explanation for the increase. The reason was often revenge or resentment, it was said. The Belgian authorities tried to downplay the importance of the increase. Compared to 7.1 million tax returns, the number of reports is minimal.
A spokesman also emphasized that the tax authorities did not encourage denunciation: "We do not expect the citizens to do our work." Therefore, unlike for indications of social fraud such as illegal work, there is no hotline or no internet portal to report tax fraud. Notes are nevertheless checked. However, nobody needs to panic, the tax authorities make it clear on the Internet. A hint alone means nothing.