The honest should not be the stupid: With these words, Greens chief Robert Habeck has called for more use in the fight against tax evasion abroad. It is "completely incomprehensible" why the Federal Government does not do everything to uncover tax loopholes, said Habeck. Otherwise "the sense of community erodes".
The Greens boss demanded a national duty to report tax-saving models. "Two-digit billions will be withdrawn from the common good, they are missing for education, police and care," said Habeck.
Large sums of black money hoarded abroad - estimates
With his criticism Habeck refers to a study that had been commissioned by the Green MEP Sven Giegold and previously reported to the NDR. The 20-page paper concludes that Germans apparently hoard large sums of black money abroad.
The German tax authorities escaped annually from untaxed foreign assets of German taxpayers 5 to 15 billion euros. "Germany almost never uses the opportunity for tax justice," comments Giegold the study.
Study author Christoph Trautvetter of the Tax Justice Network has compiled academic estimates for the study. However, he himself admits that estimates of the extent of tax evasion are "necessarily linked to many uncertainties".
