Financial police are back: over 27,000 controls against fraud!

Financial police are back: over 27,000 controls against fraud!

Wien, Österreich - The financial police in Austria again presented impressive results in the fight against tax fraud and illegal employment in 2023. A total of around 27,000 checks were carried out, which led to criminal applications of 23.7 million euros, including 20.1 million euros from labor market controls and 3.6 million euros for illegal gambling. Finance Minister Magnus Brunner emphasized that the consistent line of the financial police makes a decisive contribution to integrity and fairness in business life. "Every form of tax evasion undermines social cohesion," said Brunner.

The checks of the financial police showed a high hit rate of 25 percent again this year. With 51,356 checked workers, 4,998 without proper social security and 3,452 without a work permit. A considerable increase in ads due to social service fraud was documented: the number rose from 76 advertisements in 2022 to 159 last year. The number of unreported cases could be even higher, since numerous people obviously receive social benefits while they work black. If these patterns continue, the entire fraud volume could be well over 800 million euros per year, as the financial police stated, based on suspicious money transactions.

success of the financial police in 2023

In the third quarter of 2024, the financial police checked 13,572 employees in 5,982, which led to 1,958 criminal applications, as

The fight against illegal gambling remains another focus of the financial police. Thirty -six gambling devices were confiscated in 2023, while the number of illegal providers decreased. Thanks to the high pressure of the controls, illegal gambling companies have become increasingly rare in public. With 25 controls in the area of ​​gambling, 431,000 euros were applied for in terms of punishment. "Our measures show that we protect the honest economy and make the competition fair," said Wilfried Lehner, head of the financial police, as can be seen from the results of 2023, which are also confirmed in the balance sheet.