Corona mask affair - Tandler admits tax omissions in mask trial
In the tax trial surrounding the coronavirus mask scandal in Bavaria, the defendant and politician's daughter Andrea Tandler tearfully admitted mistakes and omissions in the taxation of her millions in commissions. However, she once again denied the accusation of deliberately evading trade tax, income tax and gift tax at the Munich I Regional Court on Tuesday.
The proceedings are now heading towards a possible swift end: a non-public discussion between the parties to the trial about a possible agreement was planned for Tuesday afternoon.
Specifically, Tandler admitted on Tuesday, among other things, that she and her business partner N. had not been in an office in Grünwald near Munich as often as "we should have been", especially at the beginning. This is relevant because the prosecution accuses Tandler, among other things, of not having paid tax on the income from the mask business in Munich, but in Grünwald - where only around half of the trade tax is due compared to the state capital. And this despite the fact that Munich was the "place of management".
However, Tandler argued that she and her business partner had "not just had a letterbox office" in Grünwald, and that had not been their intention. "Unfortunately, one thing led to another." This should not be a justification, "because I have now understood that we also made mistakes in this respect," said the defendant. "We should have informed the tax office immediately when things didn't work out right away with our own office in Grünwald as we had originally planned. I expressly apologize for these omissions."
In response to the accusation that she had also evaded millions in income tax, Tandler said that she had never been interested in "choosing a questionable structure to save tax". With the chosen structure of a GmbH, it was only about a deferral effect, but not about reducing the final tax. "I would never have thought that anything could have been wrong in this respect." Tandler pointed out that a large tax firm had been involved at the time, but also said: "But in the end, I also know that I submit the tax return and stand for its accuracy."
The indictment accuses Tandler of unlawfully paying tax on millions in commissions not as an individual but via a company. In addition, N. is said to have received half of the shares in a newly founded GmbH, although he had not previously contributed anything. The accusation of gift tax evasion is based on this.
The idea that a gift to N. could be involved "would never have occurred to me, because I always saw us as equally strong business partners," said Tandler, adding: "At no time was any gift tax the subject of our tax advice." At the same time, however, she also admitted that she had "objectively" played a greater role in brokering the masked transactions than her business partner. Only her contacts had led to deals at the time. "If the impression was created that I doubted this, I regret it and apologize for it." Nevertheless, N. was "the driving force on many days" and the strategist. She was convinced that N. was entitled to half of the commissions.
Tandler and her business partner N. are accused of tax evasion in three cases as well as subsidy fraud, the defendant N. of aiding and abetting tax evasion and tax evasion in complicity. The starting point was immense commission payments that Tandler - she is the daughter of former CSU Secretary General and former Bavarian Minister of Finance, Economics and the Interior Gerold Tandler - received at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The affair made headlines across Germany at the time.
Tandler is alleged to have evaded a total of 23.5 million euros in taxes. Specifically, according to the indictment, this involves unpaid income tax of 8.7 million euros, jointly evaded gift tax of 6.6 million euros and trade tax evasion of 8.2 million euros. The Munich I public prosecutor's office ultimately estimates the economic loss incurred at 15.2 million euros. If convicted, Tandler and her partner could face long prison sentences in view of the high tax losses.
Read also:
- The prosecution accuses Tandler of not paying tax on the income from the mask business in Munich, but in Grünwald due to alleged criminality in taxation, as the city only requires half of the trade tax compared to the state capital.
- In the coronavirus mask scandal trial, diseases like Covid-19 have not stopped the legal processes, with Andrea Tandler addressing mistakes and omissions in her tax process.
- Andrea Tandler's tax evasion case, related to the coronavirus mask affair, is being heard at the Munich Regional Court, where she admitted to not fully adhering to health and process guidelines in Grünwald, near Munich.
- Despite recent health and legal processes, Andrea Tandler continues to deny deliberately evading trade tax, income tax, and gift tax, while acknowledging omissions in her taxation, particularly in Grünwald.
- The Corona mask affair involves Tandler's alleged tax evasion in three instances, along with subsidy fraud, all taking place in Bavaria, with potential severe consequences for both Andrea Tandler and her business partner in Munich.
- Andrea Tandler's tax process error led to millions in alleged income tax evasion, which was not her intention during the creation of a GmbH, a company structure that she believed deferred taxes without deceasing the final tax.
- Tandler argues that she and her business partner did not always work from their Grünwald office as they should have, which is relevant in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic, and the corresponding tax process, in Munich, Bavaria.
Source: www.stern.de
