Who has ever had a tax audit from the taxation authority?

[RealDude]

Tell us how it went

 

[Old Spice]

I've been audited several times. Keept every receipt declared and no issues. In one case I even won a case against the tax office where they didn't clarify their stance on a deductable. I.e. The local tax office shared my view and they lost their stance.

 

[RealDude]

The others were punished?

 

[icecold]

I have been audited in 2021 the case is still running. Costs so far for lawyers and tax advisor 30K euro - it's an insane battle that is going on. They ignored what the consultance have provided as information and just put it all as personal tax on me. So they claim moneylaundering and tax fraud. I took the consequences and told them to f**k off, packed all my things, deregistered in the country and moved away.

 

[RealDude]

I have been audited in 2021 the case is still running. Costs so far for lawyers and tax advisor 30K euro - it's an insane battle that is going on. They ignored what the consultance have provided as information and just put it all as personal tax on me. So they claim moneylaundering and tax fraud. I took the consequences and told them to f**k off, packed all my things, deregistered in the country and moved away.

Which country before and after?

 

[icecold]

Denmark before, Switzerland after!

 

[Remover0707]

Never been audited and hope to never encounter this situation as it sounds quite stressful even when doing everything properly.

 

[khinkali]

An ex business was audited by HMRC. I can't remember if it was just for VAT, or for everything. The chap looked through some numbers, but mostly drank a lot of tea and chatted over the two days. I think the computer throws up some random businesses to audit, but the auditor probably decides within minutes if he is going to find anything.

I have no doubt that there is a far more stressful type of audit, where they investigate due to suspicion or anonymous tip-off.

 

[JohnLocke]

Audited a few times. Everytime it costs a lot of money in lawyer and tax advisor fee

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Twice, with fiscal police arriving early in the morning with mini guns and dogs. The persons responsible for the ops have then been removed from their positions
In total it cost me some €100k in lawyers fee and I got some unexpected benefits, plus invaluable life experience.

 

[Marzio]

plus invaluable life experience.

plus a story to tell.

 

[zzzzzz]

Denmark before, Switzerland after!

Since Denmark is "the happiest country in the world", audits there must be a very happy experience...

 

[Mike Forman]

I have had the same, also raids on 3 locations with search warrant and they took all documents as well copied all data. Legal fees over 100k usd and it has only started.

If you live in Europe and do business with low tax countries as Hong Kong, UAE which are related to you (you are UBO) , this is enough for them to obtain a search warrant on suspicion on tax evasion etc. Once they start taking during the raid all your documents and copy all files including from all servers you can bet they will find things. So always be prepared and stored everything safely, remotely and encrypted

 

[JohnnyDoe]

I have had the same, also raids on 3 locations with search warrant and they took all documents as well copied all data. Legal fees over 100k usd and it has only started.

If you live in Europe and do business with low tax countries as Hong Kong, UAE which are related to you (you are UBO) , this is enough for them to obtain a search warrant on suspicion on tax evasion etc. Once they start taking during the raid all your documents and copy all files including from all servers you can bet they will find things. So always be prepared and stored everything safely, remotely and encrypted

I recommend to have several of these USB sticks: USB Kill devices for pentesting & law-enforcement
Properly labeled as “secret accounts”, “confidential data”, “tax avoidance” etc.
When they come for a search, beg the agents not to seize them
I also recommend to prepare a HDD with loads and loads of junk data, including random balance sheets. Again, tell the agents not to bother with copying it, and that despite the label “top secret” there is nothing interesting for them inside.

 

[GrumpyMess]

I have had the same, also raids on 3 locations with search warrant and they took all documents as well copied all data. Legal fees over 100k usd and it has only started.

Twice, with fiscal police arriving early in the morning with mini guns and dogs

What kind of countries are these that I would never, ever come to?

 

[JohnnyDoe]

What kind of countries are these that I would never, ever come to?

Italy

 

[JackAlabama]

Italy

Italy and also Germany are known for such operations.

 

[European]

I have had the same, also raids on 3 locations with search warrant and they took all documents as well copied all data. Legal fees over 100k usd and it has only started.

If you live in Europe and do business with low tax countries as Hong Kong, UAE which are related to you (you are UBO) , this is enough for them to obtain a search warrant on suspicion on tax evasion etc. Once they start taking during the raid all your documents and copy all files including from all servers you can bet they will find things. So always be prepared and stored everything safely, remotely and encrypted

What country was doing the audit?
And what kind of money were they looking to tax? I'm guessing a large multiple of that $100K in legal fees?

 

[Mike Forman]

What country was doing the audit?
And what kind of money were they looking to tax? I'm guessing a large multiple of that $100K in legal fees?

Western Europe, I believe all countries as France, Germany, Netherlands act in a similar way.

The trigger was a relationship with a tax paradise such as Hong Kong, Malta, UAE,..

Annual revenue only around 10 million usd, they seek a similar amount in taxations and contact all other tax authorities we have a related business with requesting exchange of information. The structure was set up correctly and all the work force is located in the other jurisdictions, but once they start such an operation and even they didn't find what they expected or the reason they used for the raid is proven false, they will still make sure to find many other things and make tax claims of millions are sent.

So even you set up your structure well, plan everything correctly, once tax authorities at this level take action you can expect high bills in legal fees, lengthy legal cases and tax bills that easily reach several millions which you then have to dispute in court by providing loads of evidence.

Every case is different but know this situation is possible as soon as they link you to a tax heaven. Something we never expected (audit yes, raids no)

 

[European]

Western Europe, I believe all countries as France, Germany, Netherlands act in a similar way.

The trigger was a relationship with a tax paradise such as Hong Kong, Malta, UAE,..

Annual revenue only around 10 million usd, they seek a similar amount in taxations and contact all other tax authorities we have a related business with requesting exchange of information. The structure was set up correctly and all the work force is located in the other jurisdictions, but once they start such an operation and even they didn't find what they expected or the reason they used for the raid is proven false, they will still make sure to find many other things and make tax claims of millions are sent.

So even you set up your structure well, plan everything correctly, once tax authorities at this level take action you can expect high bills in legal fees, lengthy legal cases and tax bills that easily reach several millions which you then have to dispute in court by providing loads of evidence.

Every case is different but know this situation is possible as soon as they link you to a tax heaven. Something we never expected (audit yes, raids no)

Were they raiding company offices only or residential property as well?