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Jersey Island: Reputation as a tax haven
Photo: TOBY MELVILLE / REUTERS
Countries with particularly low taxes on income or wealth are a popular starting point for Germans with high wealth.
The "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reports, citing figures from the Federal Ministry of Finance.
According to this, around 11.9 billion euros of German citizens were stored on the British Channel Island of Guernsey alone in 2019.
Almost the same amount was found in Liechtenstein.
On the Caribbean Cayman Islands it is around 8.5 billion euros.
4.3 billion euros were reported from Singapore.
Switzerland is missing from the list because it has contradicted the publication of the statistics, wrote the »SZ«.
For 2018, according to the report, Switzerland reported a little more than 133 billion euros that German taxpayers had parked at Swiss banks.
222 billion euros parked abroad
After all: The latest data from Switzerland can be viewed by members of the Bundestag in the Bundestag's secret protection office.
However, the figures may not be published.
Tax havens like the Isle of Man and San Marino have even objected to their data being made available to MPs.
According to »SZ«, the figures from the Ministry of Finance show that at least 222 billion euros from Germans are in accounts outside the EU.
Money in overseas accounts is not necessarily illegal.
The EU member Luxembourg, for example, is also popular for legal investments.
The Grand Duchy reported around 117 billion euros in German taxpayers' accounts for 2019.
According to »SZ«, it is noticeable that higher wealth is more likely to be found in tax havens.
On the Channel Island of Guernsey, for example, an average of almost 2.7 million euros per account was counted.
In neighboring France it was only 33,000 euros.
The figures now published are based on an exchange of account data between the countries.
They inform each other about the account balances of their taxpayers.
This makes it much more difficult to evade taxes.
The statement of the Ministry of Finance only includes accounts that are known to the authorities or that have been revealed, writes the "SZ".
The USA is also walling up
The data comes from a small request from the left-wing parliamentary group in the Bundestag.
Their financial policy spokesman Fabio De Masi criticized the blockade of data from some countries.
"This is how these states prevent transparency and protect tax criminals," De Masi told the SZ.
The USA is also not participating in the international exchange of tax data.
You apply your own rules.
"The USA is the black hole in tax information exchange," criticized De Masi.
mmq / Reuters / AFP
