Germany's Schäuble Urges Tax Evaders To Come Forward

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

03 February 2010

Despite fierce criticism from within his own ranks, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has confirmed that the decision to purchase the disc, containing stolen tax evader data, has “in principal” been made.

Consequently, Finance Minister Schäuble has advised individuals, with accounts held secretly in Switzerland, to come forward and to make a formal declaration to the country’s tax authorities.

Parliamentary leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, Volker Kauder, has also called for those with hidden foreign accounts to make themselves known to the authorities. According to Kauder, it was evident, in the wake of the Liechtenstein case, that further discs would emerge in future, given the state’s willingness to pay for the information.

Defending the controversial decision, Schäuble alluded to the Liechtenstein incident, and highlighted the fact that, despite almost 200 trials that were held subsequently, the action taken at the time has never been called into question by any court. Even the Federal Constitutional Court has approved such action in many cases, he added.

Karl Heinz Däke, President of the German Association of Taxpayers (der Bund der Steuerzahler – BdSt), has emphasized the fact that there remains considerable legal doubt as to whether or not the purchase of the data by the state can legitimately take place. The legal debate has not reached a final conclusion, he added, and there are clear data protection issues.

The BdSt has urged the government to strive towards effectively combating tax evasion, and towards improving international framework conditions. To avoid further incidents of trade in data, it added, the government should seek a solution at European level to protect honest taxpayers.

The infamous disc, containing the names of around 1,500 Germans thought to hold bank accounts illegally in Switzerland has been offered to the government for EUR2.5m. The authorities are eager to conclude the deal swiftly.

Final issues surrounding the purchase of the disc are currently being examined by both the finance authorities in North Rhine-Wesphalia, and by the government.

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