Tax evasion: Illicit earnings in foreign accounts – Solution is voluntary disclosure

Voluntary
declarations with respect to tax evasion have not come to an end this
year, which indicates that untaxed income in foreign bank accounts is
becoming a burden on those concerned.

GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and London –www.grprainer.com/en conclude:
Around 10,500 voluntary declarations concerning tax evasion have been
received by the competent tax offices in the first half of 2015. If this
trend continues, the final figure at the end of the year could be as
high as 20,000 voluntary declarations. Experts had not anticipated a
number of this magnitude following the tightening of the rules on
voluntary disclosure at the beginning of the year.

It is now assumed that large sums of untaxed income from capital are
still deposited in foreign bank accounts. In view of the growing risk of
detection, these illicit earnings are increasingly becoming burdens on
those concerned. Significant penalties may be imposed if the tax evasion
is discovered. Voluntary disclosure continues to represent a solution.

However, a voluntary declaration can only be effective if it is
submitted on time and the tax evasion has not already been detected by
the authorities. Moreover, it must also be complete and error-free. Even
small mistakes can render the voluntary declaration invalid. For this
reason, laymen should not prepare voluntary declarations on their own or
with the help of standard templates, since errors are then practically
inevitable given the many factors and details which need to be taken
into account for voluntary disclosure. This cannot be done by a layman,
even if he makes use of standard templates. That is why lawyers and tax
advisors who are experienced in the field of tax law ought to be
entrusted with voluntary disclosure. They are able to treat and appraise
each case individually to ensure that the end result is a complete and
error-free voluntary declaration.

If the amount of taxes avoided does not exceed 25,000 euros, the tax
liabilities must subsequently be paid plus interest. There is no need to
be concerned about additional sanctions. In cases involving larger
amounts of avoided taxes, the tax authorities will impose penal
surcharges amounting to ten to twenty per cent of the sum of evaded
taxes. These penal surcharges need to be paid together with the tax
liabilities plus interest. It is only once the money has been credited
to the account of the relevant authority that further criminal
proceedings have been averted.

http://www.grprainer.com/en/legal-advice/tax-law/voluntary-disclosure.html

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