DHe recently activated the report portal of the anonymous tax report of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Finance and included it in the campaign: critics used slogans such as “Tax Stasi” to prove to some people that they had forgotten history, but at the same time , They feel uncomfortable with whistleblowers of private hobbies. However, the German Ministry of Finance has long used anonymous advertisements; however, so far, they have been received by email, letter or phone.
What has completely disappeared in the debate so far: Other governments are also struggling to win over their fellow citizens to help expose tax evasion—even offering bonuses for this. The United States is the country with the most traditions of whistleblowers. informer It exposed secret surveillance programs, official lies about the Vietnam War, and forged accounts.
Former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld (Bradley Birkenfeld) exposed the tax tactics of UBS, the Swiss bank, and this incident is very eye-catching. For his contribution, Birkenfeld received 104 million U.S. dollars from the U.S. Treasury Department, which is about a quarter of the amount UBS must pay. In any case, Birkenfeld had to go to jail. The case revealed two characteristics: The whistleblower plan of the US Treasury Department only accepts reports from persons who are not named. You can get rewards ranging from 15% to 30%. This is information collected by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a federal agency under the Department of the Treasury. There should be several thresholds to prevent rough condemnation from investigators.
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The declared taxpayer’s annual income must be at least US$200,000, and the expected owed amount, including fines and interest, must exceed US$2 million. In addition, rewards are only paid after the tax case is over. This will take six to ten years. Last year, due to whistleblowers across the country, the tax authorities brought in approximately US$472 million. He paid nearly US$87 million to 169 whistleblowers, an average of US$514,000 per capita. In the whistleblowing plan implemented in 2007, the tax authorities have raised a total of 61.5 billion U.S. dollars and allocated 1 billion U.S. dollars.
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France also avoids providing anonymous information. The tax authorities don’t take it seriously. However, anyone who answers in his name can help reveal information about major international tax violations can get financial recognition of up to 1 million euros. In 2017, the government introduced this as an “experiment” and expanded it in 2019. The 2017 budget was 2.7 million euros-much lower than the United States.
In 2004, the then Minister of Economy Nicolas Sarkozy The general remuneration of the tax notice was cancelled. This has been a practice for decades, but its legal basis is uncertain. The tax adviser emphasized that the government today will not pay fees for condemning neighbors for simple tax violations. It must be a major cross-border case, such as the “Panama Document” matter. It is reviewing whether the 1 million euro reward ceiling should be removed, for example because some whistleblowers bear high personal risks.
The UK reports more than 70,000 cases and Belgium reports more than 3000 cases
In Britain, there is no money to condemn tax evaders. British authorities are also happy to accept information-confidential, but usually not anonymous. Citizens can report suspected fraud through Internet portals or telephone hotlines. The reporter can hide his name on the phone. Tax authorities require information about sales tax or tax evasion, social security fraud or fraudulent social benefits.
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At the same time, the tax authority HMRC warned citizens that they should not try to investigate or act as detectives. Approximately 200 reports were received that day, and a total of 73,000 reports were received in the tax year before Corona. This number has increased slightly year by year. The tax authorities conducted serious tax fraud investigations on 250 people and 23 larger companies, and these people may also be sentenced to imprisonment. In the corona crisis, signs of fraud involving short-term national jobs or wage substitution benefits have increased dramatically. 4,500 employees reported that the employer was suspected of cheating.
In Belgium — where the tax morale of its citizens is said to have been relaxed — there were 3,500 reports of suspected tax evasion last year, more than ever. There were fewer than 2,250 people in the previous year. A large part of this was done anonymously, but a considerable number of whistleblowers also provided his name. There is no explanation for the increase. It is said that the cause is often revenge or resentment. The Belgian authorities tried to downplay the importance of the increase. Compared with 7.1 million tax returns, the number of reports is small.
A spokesperson also emphasized that tax authorities do not encourage condemnation: “We don’t want citizens to do our jobs.” Therefore, unlike signs of social fraud such as illegal work, there is no hotline or Internet portal to file tax returns. Crime of fraud. Nevertheless, comments are still checked. But don’t panic. The tax authorities have made it clear on the Internet. A prompt has no meaning in itself.
