On 16 July 2026, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil and Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig presented a 26-point action plan against tax and financial crime. It is one of the toughest packages Germany has proposed in years, and it should be a wake-up call for anyone still relying on grey-area arrangements to reduce their tax bill.
The plan raises the maximum prison term for organised tax evasion from 10 to 15 years. It also reforms the rules on voluntary self-disclosure, making it much harder to simply "buy your way out" once an issue is discovered. Other measures include a public register naming convicted companies, mandatory tamper-proof cash registers in cash-heavy industries, and stricter rules on how cryptocurrency gains are taxed.
The proposals still need to pass through Germany's coalition government, and several points, especially the public company register and the crypto rules, are already facing pushback. But the direction is clear: tax authorities are investing more in detection, and penalties for getting caught are getting heavier, not lighter.
Here is the key distinction most people miss: none of this affects legal tax planning. What is becoming more dangerous is improvisation, half-compliant structures, and assuming that a foreign account or company shields you automatically. As enforcement tightens and self-disclosure becomes less forgiving, the cost of an unclear structure goes up sharply, while the benefit of a properly built one stays exactly the same.
This is precisely the gap between tax evasion and legal tax optimisation. A well-structured international setup, matched correctly to your country of residence, business model, and where your company is actually managed, remains entirely legal and can reduce your tax burden by 50 to 85 percent. The difference is not the country you choose. It is whether the structure is built correctly and can withstand scrutiny.
With tax offices sharing more data across borders than ever, and enforcement in Germany specifically becoming stricter, this is the moment to have your current structure reviewed, not adjusted in a panic after the fact.
Stricter laws punish improvisation, not proper planning. If your company, your residence, or your assets are still organised the way they were five years ago, it is worth checking whether that structure still holds up in 2026.
Book your free initial consultation today and find out how a compliant international structure can protect what you have built.
