“The controls of the financial police ensure fair competition, they protect the financial interests of the Republic of Austria and thus also those of the taxpayers,” said Brunner at a press conference on Wednesday. The balance sheet of the financial police is pleasing. In the fight against tax evaders and tax evaders, unfair competition through undeclared work and social and tax fraud was largely prevented, according to Brunner.
54,000 employment relationships checked
In the labor market, the financial police examined the employment relationships of around 54,000 people last year. The result: almost 3,400 employees were not properly registered for social security. According to Brunner, vigorous action was taken in the area of wage and social dumping. 1,600 companies were checked, resulting in 1,800 criminal complaints. Fines in the amount of 4 million euros were applied for.
In connection with the Corona short-time work, the financial police carried out more than 5,000 checks in companies, which revealed around 2,600 inconsistencies. Specifically, notifications were written about deviations from the funding applications at the AMS, the minister explained. 24 reports were also sent to the construction workers’ holiday and severance pay fund (BUAK).
458 checks on gambling
The measures taken by the financial police in the field of illegal gambling were particularly effective. 458 checks were carried out and 812 machines were taken out of circulation. Although there were significantly fewer devices seized than in 2020, it is clear from this that illegal gambling has recently been pushed back. According to Brunner, this is also shown by a significant decrease in the number of advertisements from the general public.
The head of the financial police, Wilfried Lehner, described the previous year as extremely successful, but also as challenging due to the pandemic. Overall, despite the pandemic, it was possible to carry out about the same number of checks as in previous years.
Lehner also emphasized the declining confiscations in illegal gambling: “Increasing numbers are not always a positive thing,” emphasized the top financial police officer. It was possible to thin out the shadow market noticeably.
What was new in the previous year on January 1st was the introduction of the anti-fraud office (ABB) in the financial administration. This led to an organizational merger of the anti-fraud units in ABB and to shorter official channels, said ABB director Alfred Hacker. “Organized fraud is very flexible, but so is the financial administration in combating fraud,” says Hacker.
Source: Nachrichten
