A German law allowing investors to disclose undeclared offshore assets without facing a penalty is being challenged in court, the Handelsblatt newspaper has reported. The law allows individuals who held assets offshore without declaring them for domestic tax purposes to pay a 25% tax on 60% of the unreported income.
However, objections have been raised to the fact that higher rate taxpayers who have properly filed taxes face, unfairly, a tax rate of 50%. Critics also point out that those who paid back taxes before the amnesty commenced in January have also been disadvantaged.
According to the report, the case could reach the German constitutional court.