North Rhine-Westphalia Finance Minister talks to Naftemporiki about the cooperation with the Greek authorities on combating tax evasion.
Vassilis Kostoulas
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@Vaskostoulas
- “We delivered a list of data about more than 10.000 bank accounts”.
- “The prosecution of tax evasion is always an advantage for the people with lower incomes”.
- “I definitely disagree with the view that high taxes bring high tax evasion and low revenues”.
- “Corruption is not a problem within the tax authority of North Rhine-Westfalia”.
- “We have ensured additional tax revenues of more than 5 billion euros in Germany”.
- “We still estimate that the German state loses around 30 billion euros each year”.
What does the cooperation with the Greek authorities concerning the handling of tax evasion in Greece practically include?
We want to offer training for about 50 greek tax inspectors at our training centers in a first step. We also want to exchange information, data and know how in fields like efficient administration, IT and legislation. If it makes sense for our greek partners we can also offer that our experts travel to Greece to give advice to the greek tax authorities.
Whose idea was it and who took the initiative?
I had offered the exchange of know how in 2012 for the first time to some representatives of the former greek government, but we didn’t receive a reaction from the government then. Now the current government undertakes precise measures – for example declaring the partnership with North Rhine-Westphalia and working on the data about possible tax evasion we delivered.
Which are the key characteristics of your strategy in the confrontation of tax evasion?
We found out that the combination of two instruments leads to the most successful results: We use data about tax evaders and show them that our investigators really work on it to discover people with black money. At the same time we offer them to report their tax evasion voluntarily to the tax authority and pay a fine to come back to tax honesty. This has lead to additional tax revenues of more than five billion euros in Germany.
Does Greece have the necessary infrastructure available for a substantial improvement in revenue collection?
I am not an expert in the structure of the greek tax authority. But obviously there is a need to improve. That is why the government wanted the agreement with us about mutual transfer of know how and training.
One problem Greece is facing is the corruption within the body of the tax-collectors. Are there similar phenomena in Germany? How can one tackle this problem?
Although corruption is a worldwide evil it is not a problem within the tax authority of North Rhine-Westfalia. We have a very good educated and motivated tax administration. I think that the motivation to do a good and meaningful job could be one of different measures against corruption.
How is the effectiveness of tax collection in Germany being proven?
We have good controlling procedures in our administration. On the other hand tax evaders and their helpers are also very innovative to find ways to escape without paying taxes. We estimate that the German state loses around 30 billion euros each year. But as our methods have improved it gets more and more difficult for tax evaders to find holes.
Last November you delivered a list with bank accounts in Switzerland to the Greek authorities. What does this list include? To what extent are the Greek authorities exploiting this material?
We delivered a list of data about more than 10.000 bank accounts. We see that the greek authorities are already working on it. Deputy Minister of Justice Dimitrios Papaggelopoulos had announced during our visit in Greece this week-end that the list will be evaluated in the first half of this year.
What is your estimation on the amount that Greece could collect from the big depositors who maintain their money abroad?
I don’t have the insight give an estimation. But I can say: It is worthwhile – not only because of the additional tax revenues but also for the good feeling for the many honest tax payers that there is more tax justice.
Is tax evasion only “bad”? According to one aspect, quite often, tax evasion is an unavoidable mean of survival for low incomes which face high taxes without countervailing benefits.
The prosecution of tax evasion is always an advantage for the people with lower incomes. If rich tax evaders don’t pay their fair share the missing money has to be payed by the others – or the government has to save money for example on social programms.
Do you agree with the view that high taxes bring high tax evasion and low revenues?
I definitely disagree. The statistics prove that nations with lower taxes also suffer from tax evasion – for example the USA. And the Scandinavian states proof that high taxes go well with a very high moral of the people in paying taxes if they identify themselves with their society.
