Among other things, the name of the Czech Prime Minister should appear in the “Pandora Papers”.
(Photo: AP)
After the latest revelations by the “Pandora Papers”, calls for stronger action against tax havens are loud in Germany. This could also become a topic for the exploratory talks and coalition negotiations. Representatives of the Union, SPD, Greens and FDP demanded that money laundering and tax avoidance should be better combated.
An international research network, including the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, reported that hundreds of politicians and officials from all over the world are said to have hidden money in tax havens. It is about 11.9 million documents. 35 current and former heads of state and more than 330 other politicians from almost 100 countries are said to have invested assets “with the help of non-transparent trusts, foundations and letterbox companies”.
Jordan’s King Abdullah and the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis are said to be named in the documents. Some of the politicians deny wrongdoing and point out that it is taxed money.
But the fact that politicians of all people use tax havens is causing outrage. “Despite all the scandals, tax avoidance and money laundering continue to flourish through mailbox companies,” said Green finance politician Sven Giegold, who is a member of his party’s exploratory team. “We need stricter rules that ensure full transparency and more international information exchange.”
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SPD leader Norbert Walter-Borjans also called for the fight against tax havens to be stepped up internationally. The next federal government must put pressure on this. Politicians from the Union and FDP also spoke out in favor of a stricter approach.
Measures have already been taken in recent years. There is now an automatic exchange of tax data between many OECD countries. In addition, a transparency register was introduced: It should make it possible to identify the economic beneficiaries behind the complicated structures of letterbox companies. The federal government referred to these measures. The new revelations underscored the need to fight tax havens, a Treasury Department spokeswoman said.
More: Additional income of 150 billion euros per year – this is what the global tax reform will bring.