Tracing German “black money” is proving hard

The Balearic government was yesterday advised to “camouflage” the tourist tax in existing taxes, as it is giving Germans the wrong impression about the Balearics. The Spanish and German tax inspectors were also urged to develop a more “efficient” working relationship in order to crack down on fiscal fraud committed by Germans in the Spanish property market. Addressing a conference of German accountants and tax consultants in Palma, Michael Korth, the chairman of the Upper and Lower Saxony Association of Accountants, said that trying to gauge the amount of fiscal fraud involved in the German purchase of properties in Spain is “very difficult,” adding that the co-operation between the Spanish and German tax collectors is not “very efficient.”