On average, each tax inspector generates more than one million euros in back taxes every year.
Source: dpa
Malte Magold is an experienced criminal defense attorney who specializes in white collar criminal cases, particularly tax evasion cases. For several years he defended a Franconian restaurateur in a complicated trial accused of “criminal tax evasion” totaling millions.
My client was noticed during a tax audit. Suspicions arose that revenues had exceeded books. The difference, namely what he does not declare, is of course not subject to tax and this is where the tax loss arises.
Dr Malte Magold, criminal defense attorney
In North Rhine-Westphalia, tax investigators pay special attention to social media influencers. Financial investigators reported tax fraud of 300 million euros through untaxed income.
July 18, 2025 | 3:08 min
Billions in unpaid taxes – but fewer auditors on duty
So business and tax audits are successful. It is mainly through them that tax evaders can fall into the net. And the track record can also be seen with the naked eye: nationally, there were 12,394 tax inspectors in Germany at the end of 2023.
According to the Federal Ministry of Finance, their work achieved “additional results” of 13.2 billion euros. Simply put: Each auditor generates an average of 1,065,031 euros per year in back taxes for the state.
However, it is also a fact that the number of auditors has continued to decline for more than ten years. The result: According to the Federal Ministry of Finance, only 16 out of 1,000 companies were audited last year, or even none out of sixty companies.
Lack of staff, lack of money, overloaded courts: Germany’s criminal justice system is at its limits. White collar criminals in particular often benefit from this.
January 20, 2021 | 44:59 min
Criticism of lack of resources in tax authorities
Anne Brorhilker sharply criticized the fact that the number of auditors and controls carried out by tax authorities is decreasing. Brorhilker is known as the senior public prosecutor in major cum-ex trials. Since leaving government service voluntarily, he has worked at Finanzwende – an initiative dedicated to fighting financial crime.
Anne Brorhilker worked as a prosecutor for ten years to deal with the cum-ex scandal. He resigned from the service in April and is now speaking for the first time about his experiences.
July 16, 2024 | 1:59 min
“Financial crime is still too often seen as a trivial offense in Germany,” Brorhilker said.
But there are billions we lost and will eventually have to return. This is a worrying bias and an injustice.
Anne Brorhilker, former senior public prosecutor
He was particularly critical of the financial sector’s lobbying success. Fraud involving dividend payments (Cum-Ex and Cum-Cum) alone may have cost taxpayers tens of billions of euros – only a small portion of which has been reclaimed so far.
There has been a wealth tax in Germany for 100 years, which has pumped billions of dollars into the country’s budget. But in 1997 he was suddenly “abandoned”. How could this happen?
October 14, 2024 | 34:28 min
Billions lost due to lack of personnel in tax investigations
But why are the number of auditors and tax investigators decreasing? One reason – like almost everything else – is a lack of skilled workers. Another reason is that auditors and tax investigators are usually state employees and must be paid by them.
However, federal states only partially benefit from additional tax revenues, as many types of taxes are shared between federal, state, and local governments. So it’s not very attractive for states to hire a lot of new examiners – but that’s no excuse, says former chief prosecutor Brorhilker:
As honest taxpayers, we have the right to the state to manage and return tax money. The federal and state governments need to agree on how to regulate this so we can process these cases so billions of people don’t get away with it.
Anne Brorhilker, former senior public prosecutor
However, innkeepers and snack bar operators in Franconia should know that law enforcement officials can take decisive action if there is any doubt. After undergoing a year-long criminal trial, he was finally sentenced to two years in prison plus restitution.
In the end, the state treasury will receive more than half a million euros through this process alone.
