Fraud Fighters Collected 107 Million Euros Last Year

"Tax fraud is very dangerous because it jeopardizes the financing of public services," said Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer (SPÖ) on Tuesday during the presentation of the ABB's annual report. The publicly visible fight against tax fraud is crucial for a fair tax system, and the entire economy benefits from it.

To improve the system, an expert group will consider measures, with a particular focus on digitization and European cooperation. This is expected to increase tax revenues to 270 million euros next year and to 450 million euros by 2029. This will also require more effort, Marterbauer admitted. Currently, the ABB's budget is around 75 million euros. However, it must be considered that "the mere existence of the office and its activities ensure that much more is also made tax-compliant." Fraud prevention is also being strengthened at the European level, "and that is exactly what we need."

Wide Range of Activities for Fraud Prevention Officers

Christian Ackerler, head of the ABB, shares this view. Without control measures, tax compliance would decrease in the long run. After all, since the merger of the financial police, tax investigation, the criminal matters department, and an international department in 2021, his institution has been fighting in numerous fields, ranging from wage and social dumping, tax and social fraud, tax evasion, to "highly complex cases like VAT carousel frauds" operating across Europe. Money laundering and crypto fraud are also being pursued. It is very helpful that since last year, the office can freeze company accounts during proceedings by decree, thus preventing the outflow of money. If a company is identified as a shell company, banks must report all associated accounts and transactions - which opens up further possibilities for claims. It is complex, but the ABB has the means to reclaim money, assured Ackerler.

Last year, the office checked over 53,000 employees in 26,644 companies and conducted 148 house searches. 195 shell companies were shut down, and over 6,000 financial criminal proceedings were completed. A massive increase is looming, especially in the detection of shell companies, as 180 shell companies have already been legally identified in the first four months of 2025, said Ackerler.

Associations Newly in Focus

Construction, services, and gastronomy are traditionally industries that give the ABB a lot of work. Ackerler estimates that construction and services account for 20 percent of tax fraud. The ABB also requires considerable resources for European cooperation against VAT fraud. But recently, associations have been newly in focus: Two perpetrators were found who registered associations as non-profit and then resold them for "sometimes quite considerable sums," sometimes even abroad, Ackerler recounted from practice. Then, under the guise of non-profit status, a business was pursued. The association authorities noticed a sudden unexplained increase in the establishment of associations in rural areas. The cooperation of various authorities then led to success.

A Chinese-born software operator who sold manipulative software to at least 24 Chinese restaurants, leading to the declaration of a lower VAT, was also caught and fined 2 million euros and given a conditional two-year prison sentence. Ackerler warned home builders who want to save a few thousand euros through fictitious invoices from construction companies: If such a company is caught, then the customers, i.e., the home builders, are also affected. In a specific case, over 100 home builders were convicted and now have to live with a criminal record. "I personally dare to doubt that it's worth it." However, there are fraud cases in all areas, Ackerler said. For example, when a supposed family business with illegal dog breeding makes 1.4 million euros in revenue and does not declare it.

In the area of illegal gambling, the pressure of control is beginning to take effect. Fines amounting to 1.9 million euros have been imposed. Very large sums are involved in VAT fraud in Europe-wide fraud carousels. State Secretary Barbara Eibinger-Miedl (ÖVP) referred to a specific case where 195 million euros were evaded in the trade of mobile phones. "You wouldn't believe what lies behind a mobile phone shop with an alleged annual turnover of 300,000 euros - when house searches are conducted and then the money bundles are thrown out of the window and end up on the terrace cover," added Ackerler. Basically, "on paper," everything is always in order with VAT fraud. But in a specific case involving vehicles, a dealer fully cooperated and released his phone with the WhatsApp messages - 10,000 pages showing how cars were invoiced from Germany via Austria and Italy to Slovenia, Romania, and Bulgaria, even though they were registered in Austria.

(APA/Red)

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