tax evasion, it is possible to combat the recent successes. Just why is still a transparency register for real estate?

Parking Nice place to Chill out or Money, to evade taxes: Cayman Islands Foto: picture alliance

BERLIN taz | It is in this country become more and more difficult to control laundering, evasion, and money to operate. On the current list of the network for tax justice, Germany has slipped to 14. Space – and not the 7. as of 2018. The progress is based, among other things, on the introduction of the public transparency register, in the banks, insurance companies, certain foundations and other corporations to enter. In the case of real estate, however, is still missing transparency, said the network.

In the list, the so-called financial secrecy index, the following applies: The higher up, the worse it is. On court 1, the Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, this time to the South of Cuba. 2nd place to the USA, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Luxembourg, Japan and the Netherlands.

The international Tax Justice Network and this time it is checked in 133 countries around the world, whether they promote tax evasion and money laundering, for example, that investors do not have to publish important information. Because, for example, the Organisation for Economic cooperation and development (OECD) is striving since years to the drying up of tax havens, the importance of illicit financial flows in many countries.

In "the USA, the UK and the Cayman Islands, the shadow financial sector has increased" according to research by the network, however. "Shadow financial drug cartels opens the access to the banking system, tax evasion and human trafficking profitable," said network Board of Directors Alex Cobham.

Motivated by the great financial crisis of 2008, and a number of international tax scandals, before the European Union and the Federal government, meanwhile, decided against tax evasion. A result of the public transparency register in Germany. Basically, you can worked look there, what people are behind corporations, the formerly more-or-less anonymous. The facilitated critics, journalists, tax inspectors, illegal flows of money to uncover.

A similar Register of real estate is lacking in Germany, however, criticized the network staff Christoph fat Trust. Although the municipal land records contain a lot of information on land, residential and commercial real estate.

However, these are only limited to the public, they are rarely digitized, and is not uniform throughout the Federal Republic can be viewed. Often it is also difficult to make, for example, the actual owners of residential complexes with Thousands of apartments to find. Not only tax authorities, but also tenants that want to defend themselves against speculative sales, are missing, therefore, often the necessary information.