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§369 Tax crimes

(1) The following shall be tax crimes (customs crimes):

1. acts which are punishable under the tax laws,

2. the illegal import, export or transit of goods,

3. the forging of revenue stamps or acts preparatory thereto, insofar as the act relates to tax stamps,

4. aiding and abetting a person who has committed an act under numbers 1 to 3 above.

(2) Tax crimes shall be subject to the general provisions of criminal law unless otherwise provided for by the tax laws’ provisions on crime.

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§370 Tax evasion

(1) A penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment or a monetary fine shall be imposed on any person who

1. furnishes the revenue authorities or other authorities with incorrect or incomplete particulars concerning matters that are relevant for tax purposes,

2. fails to inform the revenue authorities of facts that are relevant for tax purposes when obliged to do so, or

3. fails to use revenue stamps or revenue stamping machines when obliged to do so

and as a result understates taxes or derives unwarranted tax advantages for himself or for another person.

(2) Attempted perpetration shall be punishable.

(3) In particularly serious cases, a penalty of between six months and ten years’ imprisonment shall be imposed. In general, a particularly serious case is one in which the perpetrator

1. deliberately understates taxes on a large scale or derives unwarranted tax advantages,

2. abuses his authority or position as a public official or European public official (section 11(1) number 2a of the Criminal Code),

3. solicits the assistance of a public official or European public official (section 11(1) number 2a of the Criminal Code) who abuses his authority or position,

4. repeatedly understates taxes or derives unwarranted tax advantages by using falsified or forged documents, or

5. as a member of a group formed for the purpose of repeatedly committing acts pursuant to subsection (1) above, understates value-added taxes or excise duties or derives unwarranted VAT or excise duty advantages.

6. uses a third-country company (as defined in section 138(3)) over which he can directly or indirectly exercise controlling or decisive influence alone or jointly with related parties (as defined in section 1(2) of the External Tax Relations Act), where such use is for the purpose of concealing facts that are relevant for tax purposes and in this way understating his taxes or obtaining unwarranted tax benefits on an ongoing basis.

(4) Taxes shall be deemed to have been understated in particular where they are not assessed at all, in full or in time; this shall also apply even where the tax has been assessed provisionally or assessed subject to review or where a self-assessed tax return is deemed to be equal to a tax assessment subject to review. Tax advantages shall also include tax rebates; unwarranted tax advantages shall be deemed derived to the extent that these are wrongfully granted or retained. The conditions of the first and second sentences above shall also be fulfilled where the tax to which the act relates could have been reduced for other reasons or the tax advantage could have been claimed for other reasons.

(5) The act may also be committed in relation to goods whose importation, exportation or transit is banned.

(6) Subsections (1) to (5) above shall apply even where the act relates to import or export duties which are administered by another Member State of the European Communities or to which a Member State of the European Free Trade Association or a country associated therewith is entitled. The same shall apply where the act relates to value-added taxes or harmonised excise duties on goods designated in Article 3(1) of Council Directive 92/12/EEC of 25 February 1992 (OJ L 76, p. 1) which are administered by another Member State of the European Communities.

(7) Irrespective of the lex loci delicti, the provisions of subsections (1) to (6) above shall also apply to acts committed outside the territory of application of this Code.

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