The new 26-point action plan against tax and financial crime, issued by Germany’s finance and justice ministries, signals a shift toward tougher sanctions, closer interagency coordination, and more data-driven enforcement.
The plan, unveiled on July 16, would reintroduce a felony offense for serious tax evasion, with a prison term ranging from one to 15 years. For large multinational groups, the proposal signals a substantially increased personal liability for board members, managing directors, and senior tax executives, particularly where tax governance failures are alleged to have facilitated significant tax understatements.
“Germany is following a broader international trend rather than setting one. European tax authorities are increasingly using electronic reporting and data analytics for case selection and fraud detection.”
The full article by KPMG Law experts Heiko Hoffmann and Arndt Rodatz is available here.
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