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Influencers under scrutiny by tax investigators

from
Jessica Zerger-Vetter, LL.M.
Lawyer

Give me a call: 0261 - 404 99 755
E-Mail:

A few days ago, it became known that the tax investigation department of the tax authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia has been closely scrutinizing so-called influencers since January 2025. In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, influencers are said to have caused tax losses of 300 million euros. But of course, it is to be expected that all other federal states throughout Germany will now focus more closely on influencers due to the amount of tax that is believed to have been evaded.

I already published an article on the taxation of influencers on August 10, 2023. You can find out more about the basis for taxation here.

Influencers can earn several thousand euros a month through the use of affiliate links and other advertising. For tax purposes, this often constitutes a commercial enterprise. In addition to income tax, trade tax and sales tax must therefore often be declared or registered and paid to the tax office. Sales tax in particular can quickly add up to large amounts, which, due to the large scale of the tax evasion in the absence of registration or declaration, can lead to tax evasion in particularly serious cases. Tax evasion in particularly serious cases is punishable by imprisonment of six months to 10 years.

If there is a fear that taxes may not have been declared in full, swift action is required. Incorrect or incomplete information can still be corrected in the context of a voluntary disclosure and may lead to immunity from prosecution, or at least to a waiver of prosecution, if the amount of tax evaded exceeds a certain threshold. However, it is important that a voluntary disclosure covers all unstatute-barred tax offenses of a particular type of tax, or at least all tax offenses of a particular type of tax within the last ten calendar years. Such a voluntary disclosure should always be made in writing by a lawyer specializing in this area, as there are many details to be taken into account and even a small mistake can lead to a refusal of immunity from prosecution.

Please feel free to contact our specialist tax lawyers.

The statements represent initial information that was current for the law applicable in Germany at the time of initial publication. The legal situation may have changed since then. Furthermore, the information provided cannot replace individual advice on a specific matter. Please contact us for this purpose.