Covered billion fraud: Austria's tax investigators in action!

Covered billion fraud: Austria's tax investigators in action!

Österreich - In Austria, a personnel deployment company is suspected of wage and tax fraud in the millions. According to [5min], damage of over 2 million euros was determined by evading taxes. The fraud was uncovered by the tax investigation, which became aware of irregularities that came to light in 2023 as part of an examination of the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK).

The investigation shows a systematic approach to foreign workers. These were forced to sign blank cassidets before taking up service. Because although wages were officially posted as operating expenses, the employees received significantly lower net wages in reality. The person concerned has allegedly withdrawn advances, so -called "aconto payments", which were never paid out. Two labor court judgments confirm this fraudulent practice.

The role of the tax investigation

as reported [BMF], the office for fighting fraud was informed by the ÖGK, which led to the current investigations by the tax investigation. This special unit has the task of pursuing systematic tax and tax evasion. The focus is also on the guarantees for the proper taxation and the amount of taxes in the Austrian economy.

Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer underlined the damage to honest taxpayers by such machinations. In the course of the investigation, it was announced that employees did not receive any pay slips. This made it difficult to check the wage settlement. The tax damage determined is estimated to be around 2.2 million euros.

Investigations and legal consequences

The results of the tax investigation were handed over to the judiciary, which now decides on the initiation of a financial criminal proceedings. In addition to the central role of the tax investigation, the Office for Combating Fraud has taken security measures, such as house searches and the observation of suspicious activities, to further uncover the fraud. Experts from various specialist areas support the search with legal expertise and quality assurance in order to clarify the incidents.

An Austrian company is at the center of a complex fraud machine that has far extensive consequences not only for the workers involved, but also for the Austrian tax state. While the investigation continues, the authorities are of the highest priority to recognize the affected systems at an early stage and to prevent them effectively.

The developments related to this case underline the need for intensive controls and the continuing vigilance of the tax investigation, which has established itself as a decisive unity in the fight against fraudulent practices. You can find more information about the tax investigation and its tasks on the [BMF website].