Senior goes to the police because of 9.50 euros: A strange financial drama begins!

Senior goes to the police because of 9.50 euros: A strange financial drama begins!

Life sometimes brings unexpected turns, as the story of Karlheinz Falkenstein shows. The 72-year-old pensioner from Heddesheim recently received a visit from two criminal police officers. The reason? His failure to file the tax return six days late, which resulted in a late fee of €9.50. Falkenstein, who also addressed the Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz extremely politely, wanted to use his letter to point out a “lack of tact” and even enclosed two historical pictures with the letter. One of the photos depicts an arrest at gunpoint, the other shows a duel scene that was interpreted as a threat. His letter was then forwarded and the police were called in, which understandably shocked Falkenstein. According to Schwäbische, the Finance Ministry's reaction was excessive and it later apologized.

But what does charging such a fee have to do with the current tax scandals in Germany? Well, Falkenstein also used his letter to point out the serious problems of the Cum-Ex scandal, which has caused enormous damage to state assets. This is a form of tax evasion that costs millions over the years. As of December 31, 2023, as PwC reports, 380 suspicious cum-ex cases have been processed by the highest tax authorities. The capital gains tax returns amount to around 3.1 billion euros, while the total damage caused by such schemes is around 40 billion euros.

The ongoing investigation

The investigation into Cum-Ex and Cum-Cum continues happily. The German authorities are faced with the challenge of both uncovering complex structures and ensuring the preservation of evidence. A significant part of the debt that the federal government has had to take on so far could be reduced by clearing up such tax fraud transactions, as the ZDF site also states. Despite the progress, many cases remain untreated: in North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, the recovery of taxes is less successful than in other federal states.

Anne Brorhilker, an experienced senior public prosecutor, is calling for more trained staff in the responsible public prosecutor's offices. Your concerns about the political will to combat tax crime are not unfounded. Because despite the more than 1,700 defendants that the Cologne public prosecutor's office is pursuing in cum-cum and cum-ex cases, the road to justice remains rocky. The Bureaucracy Relief Act IV sets additional hurdles because it shortens the retention periods for accounting documents, which makes it more difficult to secure evidence.

A call for change

Amid all the finesse in tax law, it is important that citizens like Karlheinz Falkenstein raise their voices. He plans to continue writing letters to various politicians and has already contacted Olaf Scholz and other prominent actors. His hope is that the countless people who suffer from bureaucratic measures will finally be heard. Because one thing is clear: the good will to educate and a fairer tax policy are at stake.