German tax collectors decided to deal with internet income influencers who sometimes make huge money without reporting anything and paying no taxes.
The tax office of North Rhine-Westphalia (LBF NRW) estimates that the influencers robbed the province alone of about 300 million euros and is now analyzing data from several social networks and about 6000 posts. Tax officials suspect that influencers in Germany avoided tax obligations in the millions, dpa writes.
"The target of the investigation are professional influencers who evade tax obligations with significant criminal energy," said LBF NRW, which has around 1200 employees.
"The service has formed a team to monitor influencers and it is not interested in young people who have collected a few followers and promote some cosmetics or clothing," said LBF NRW head Stefanie Tin, adding that tax officials are looking for big players on social networks.
"This is not about confusion caused by sudden fame, but about conscious and deliberate tax evasion on a large scale," said Tin.
The investigation is complex because there is no permanent job, and often content creators with growing incomes deregister from Germany to avoid tax obligations, most often to Dubai.
Tax evasion is difficult to prove due to the nature of the announcements. For example, some remain on networks for only 24 hours, then disappear. LBF NRW therefore uses investigative methods that enable tracking of advertising partnerships and revenue.
Tin stated that other German provinces have adopted the same model.
The LBF NRW is currently handling around 200 criminal cases against influencers residing in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, not counting those under investigation.
On average, they are suspected of embezzling a high five-figure amount, and in some cases in the millions.
Source: Business
