Yesterday I reported on Claus Zumwinkel, the former head of Deutsche Post AG, the German mail and logistics giant. Mr. Zumwinkel admitted last week that he evaded paying taxes on €970,000. Presiding Judge Wolfgang Mittrup said Zumwinkel had “knowingly, meticulously, enduringly and thus criminally evaded taxes.”
He received a two year suspended sentence and must pay a fine of €1 million. Mr. Zumwinkel already paid back €3.9 million in back taxes covering 1997 – 2006. Prosecutors asked for a suspended sentence and the judge agreed.
In Germany (and in the United States) it’s a whole lot easier to just pay your taxes when they’re due than to evade paying them.