Office for Combating Fraud flushes more than 107 million euros into state coffers in 2024
The Anti-Fraud Office (ABB) generated more than 107 million euros for the Republic of Austria in 2024. It was possible to put a stop to 195 dummy companies and 6,059 financial criminal proceedings were concluded. In total, the ABB, which brings together the anti-duty and anti-fraud units of the Ministry of Finance, inspected more than 53,000 employees in 26,644 companies, carried out 148 house searches and seized 159.6 terabytes of evidence.
"Anyone who cheats not only harms the state, but all honest taxpayers. The Anti-Fraud Office pursues illegal activities with rigour and state-of-the-art funds, both nationally and internationally. Tax evasion is not a trivial offence, but an attack on our community. No one should be allowed to evade taxpayers' tax liabilities. This is not only a question of justice, but also strengthens tax morale and the broad acceptance of tax commitments (budget). The balance sheet shows that while we are successful in the fight against fraud, we cannot afford to tolerate tax evasion. That is why the Federal Government is stepping up its efforts in the fight against tax evasion and undesirable tax avoidance," said Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer.
"Unfair business practices not only damage our state, but also penalise all those entrepreneurs who play by the rules. New fraud methods are constantly emerging, particularly as a result of advancing digitalisation - which is why it is important to continuously expand digital skills in the fight against fraud in order to ensure fair competitive conditions in Austria. The Anti-Fraud Office, which has only existed in this form since 2021, impressively demonstrates in this first full annual report how tax fraud is being combated in a targeted and efficient manner," said State Secretary for Finance Barbara Eibinger-Miedl.
"Duty and social fraud, tax evasion and wage and social dumping were found across all sectors throughout Austria in 2024. Serious offences such as illegal employment relationships, tax evasion, benefit fraud and credit fraud in connection with construction financing and opaque personnel leasing arrangements were uncovered in the construction and service industries in particular. Another focus was on combating VAT fraud in the trade in mobile phones and IT equipment. The security and catering industry was also once again in the spotlight - with fraud patterns such as unrecorded sales and manipulated accounting," says ABB Executive Board member Christian Ackerler about the areas of fraud in the past year.
As a partner of the honest economy and society, the ABB has been responsible for the detection and prosecution of tax and social fraud as well as wage and social dumping since 2021. It associates Financial Police, Tax Fraud Investigation Units, Financial Criminal Investigation Units and international cooperation in order to effectively combat fraud offences and protect the financial interests of the state.
Several cases of fraud uncovered, some with high losses
1.9 million fines from illegal gambling
Several offences against illegal gambling were also recorded in 2024. A repeat offender already convicted of illegal gambling and tax evasion was again active on a large scale. After intensive investigations, including telephone surveillance, surveillance and local searches, the suspect was arrested. He was sentenced to a fine of 960,000 euros and twelve months in prison. In total, the ABB seized 186 illegal gambling devices during 161 gambling controls. This resulted in requested fines totalling around 1.9 million euros.
Fraudsters sold associations for tax avoidance purposes
One case of abusive tax structuring involved the establishment and sale of more than 26 associations that were used to avoid tax payments. The initiators, two Austrians, allegedly offered "training courses" to show buyers how they could avoid paying taxes with the associations they had purchased.
Illegal cash register systems allow sales to be deleted
Another accrual concerned a software distributor from Vienna who sold manipulated cash register systems to restaurants. The software made it possible to delete sales or disguise them as tips and thus evade value added tax. Tax evasion totalling around 12.6 million euros was substantiated in 24 restaurants. The software distributor was sentenced to a fine of two million euros and a conditional prison sentence of two years.
Increasingly sophisticated scams in the construction industry
Several serious cases of tax evasion and illegal financial practices have been uncovered in the construction sector. In one case, a construction company manipulated over 1.1 million data records in order to conceal untaxed sales. The resulting loss amounts to around 325,000 euros. The confessed managing director faces a fine of up to 650,000 euros.
A former managing director of a construction company in western Austria was convicted of long-standing tax evasions totalling around 3.45 million euros and falsification of evidence. During investigations, black money records and cash payments were discovered from "house builders" who had made payments for construction services without corresponding bills. The managing director was sentenced to a fine of 800,000 euros and a partially suspended prison sentence. The individuals involved must also pay fines due to their role as contributory offenders.
Illegally employed security staff at embassies and major concert
Two major cases were uncovered in the security sector. A company in the property and personal security sector, which was already known from previous inspections, is accused of employing people in illicit work for activities in embassies. In addition, drugs were allegedly stored and sold under the cover of immunity. The second case concerns a bogus company that came to light during checks on security staff at a major concert. It turned out that a total of 18 subcontractors and sub-subcontractors were operating illegally. An amount of around 65,000 euros, which was obtained through tax evasion, was seized.
Illegal dog breeding, gold smuggling and untaxed embezzled money
Other notable cases include a family business that ran an illegal dog breeding operation for years and did not pay tax on the revenue of around 1.42 million euros.
Another spectacular case concerns a former city employee who embezzled more than 1.7 million euros and also committed tax evasion by not paying tax on the embezzled money. He was sentenced to a fine of 150,000 euros.
A jewellery shop in Vienna attempted to evade tax arrears of over 35,000 euros by hiding unstamped jewellery and gold bars that may have been smuggled into the country illegally . In cooperation with the customs investigation department, several kilograms of gold were seized.
International cooperation uncovers billions in damage
Another trend that can be observed is increasing internationalisation. More and more suspects are operating across Europe and around the world. Strengthening and further developing cooperation with other authorities and Organisational units in the fight against fraud, both nationally and internationally, is therefore becoming increasingly important. The targeted use of European networks and IT-supported information systems is increasingly successful in detecting and combating cross-border tax offences.
Together with the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), for example, several cases of fraud involving VAT carousels across Europe were uncovered. A groundbreaking success in the sector of international cooperation was the uncovering of a 195 million euro VAT fraud in the trade of smartphones, electronic devices and protective masks. As part of the investigation, 130 house searches were carried out in several countries and 14 arrests were made.
In another international operation, the largest VAT fraud to date was uncovered with an estimated loss of 2.9 billion euros. Additional investigations concerned Chinese gaming platforms, among others, where losses totalling 198 million euros were identified.