Self-disclosures

Over the years, legislators have made voluntary disclosure more complicated and costly. Nevertheless, voluntary disclosure has survived. Voluntary disclosure still makes it possible to correct tax misconduct – and it bridges the gap between full tax liability and, at best, complete impunity.

At the same time, voluntary disclosure is a matter for specialists. For voluntary disclosure to actually fulfil its purpose, it must meet a number of requirements. In individual cases, a voluntary disclosure under criminal tax law may be unnecessary or tactically misguided.

Submitting an ineffective voluntary disclosure can have serious consequences under criminal law. According to the case law of the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH), tax evasion in excess of €1 million should generally lead to a prison sentence without parole.
In this case, the BGH no longer sees any room for a penalty order, but rather the need for a public trial. Only those who are able to accurately predict the tax and criminal consequences of a voluntary disclosure and are aware of the tax and criminal procedural risks can advise on a voluntary disclosure.

Minoggio Grezesch Bachmann has decades of experience in preparing voluntary disclosures. This includes “classic” cases such as “CD cases” involving undeclared foreign investment income or current cases involving untaxed profits from crypto assets, as well as complex situations in companies or groups with a large number of affected persons.

Heirs are also often faced with the question of how to deal with any misconduct on the part of the deceased (undeclared rental income during his lifetime or undeclared income from foreign investments, etc.).

Minoggio Grezesch Bachmann helps those concerned to fulfil their obligations and to avoid being accused of not having taken the necessary corrective measures immediately.
The same applies to gifts that have not yet been declared to the tax authorities.

We know when a voluntary disclosure is essential to eliminate the risk of criminal liability that could destroy your livelihood, when it is unnecessary or even counterproductive, and when the costs and risks must be carefully weighed against each other. We prepare voluntary disclosures for our clients and see the process through to its conclusion: obtaining partial or full immunity from prosecution.