A flood of data following the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI)
At the automatic exchange of information In September 2017, foreign authorities transmitted 1.5 million data records relating to financial accounts for the year 2016 to Germany. The next data exchange, covering data for the year 2017, will take place in September this year.
However, the state tax authorities are not expected to begin analysing the data until mid-2020. The data sets are reportedly said to contain information on income totalling 58 billion euros and account balances totalling 85 billion euros.
The data will not form part of the assessment, but are intended to provide evidence for assets held abroad that have not yet been declared will result in further audits by the tax authorities.
This exchange of information results in a high risk of detection for taxpayers, who have not previously declared their foreign (capital) income on their tax returns.
Due to the long lead time required for the analyses, there is still the option of a voluntary disclosure, in order to pre-empt the initiation of criminal tax proceedings.
For further information, please contact our Specialist solicitors and tax advisers.