Tax evasion (Austria)
In Austria tax evasion is a criminal offense according to Art. 1 § 33 FinStrG .
With the following measures, the Austrian financial administration tried to install a modern system to detect serious forms of fraud and to secure Austria as a business location. The legislature has now included certain qualified forms of tax evasion in the definition of crime in Section 17 of the Criminal Code. So far, financial offenses have not been qualified as a crime, as the general part of the StGB was not applicable to financial criminal matters (exception, e.g., Section 23 (2) FinStrG).
Legal definition
Crimes in the sense of money laundering are now regulated according to the legal definition of § 17 StGB.
- Evasion of foreign taxes due to a lack of domestic reference (in Austria) and a lack of domestic taxes (provided there is no tax violation) does not fall under the FinStrG and would therefore not constitute a predicate offense to money laundering. In order to prevent such involvement in qualified foreign tax fraud cases, certain duties of care and obligations (e.g. by banks §§ 40 ff. BWG) must be observed and considered in the course of structuring options. The significance of the predicate offense for money laundering is regulated in Section 165 of the Criminal Code (with reference to the special explanations Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3).
- In the case of severe forms of tax evasion, sanction mechanisms in financial criminal law (Section 33 FinStrG, Section 34 FinStrG) with the particularities of tax evasion, commercial tax evasion, gang-based tax evasion, gang-based violent smuggling must be taken into account.
- Financial offenses as felony and money laundering are regulated in Section 17 (1) StGB and Section 1 (3) FinStrG. The legal elements § 38, 38 a (gang and violence) as well as tax fraud (§ 39 FinStrG) are important. Section 2 (1) b and c evasion of foreign taxes must also be taken into account.
- As an operational unit to ensure equal opportunities for the stability of Austria as a business location, the financial police (according to § 12 AVOG - Tax Administration Organization Act 2010) was set up as a special facility as a monitoring and control body and installed in the organizational environment of the BMF.
- In the course of regulatory policy, the focus is on the Aliens Employment Act (Section 26), the Employment Contract Adjustment Act, the General Social Insurance Act and the Gambling Act (with reference to the special powers of the individual material laws, e.g. obligation to provide information in accordance with Section 50 (4) GSpG) and it the control is used to monitor tax obligations.
- In addition, the powers of the financial police are concentrated on stopping vehicles, driving on private roads, carrying out identity checks and providing comprehensive information.
Social psychological aspects
The business psychologist Professor Erich Kirchler from the University of Vienna assumes that tax evasion is not solely based on greed , but can be explained by a more complex motive:
“Most of the people are willing to cooperate. They pay the emperor what the emperor is and pay taxes honestly. There are also many people who think: I have no other chance, I have to pay. These, too, are citizens willing to cooperate, who are honest for fear of punishment and loss of face. Then there are those who do not pay because they do not trust the authorities or do not want to have anything to do with the state. Finally, there are the players: They enjoy breaking the law. [...] Tax evaders sometimes have the feeling that there is no fair exchange. They feel that they are giving to the community more than they are getting or that they are paying too much compared to others. Or they miss a say in government spending. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ "Tax evaders act not only out of greed" Der Standard , February 9, 2014
Web links
Wikinews: Tax Evasion - In The News