Risk of Catch for Tax Evasion Among Influencers Remains Substantial - Steep danger looms for those engaging in tax evasion fraud
In North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany, a dedicated effort is underway to combat tax evasion among professional social media influencers. The State Office for Combating Financial Crime (LBF NRW) in Düsseldorf has confirmed ongoing investigations, analysing approximately 6,000 social media data records linked to alleged tax fraud.
The investigations, spearheaded by a specialised "influencer team" within the LBF NRW, consist of around 1,200 tax investigation experts, who have been working exclusively on uncovering tax evasion by influencers since January 2025. The focus is on professional influencers with substantial earnings and deliberate, large-scale tax evasion, rather than casual or smaller-scale content creators.
One challenge faced by the investigators is that some influencers deliberately deregister from Germany, often moving to low-tax jurisdictions such as Dubai, to evade tax obligations. The criminal energy involved is described as high, indicating serious and systematic evasion rather than accidental or minor non-compliance.
The EU DAC7 Directive, effective from 2021, is expected to provide additional support to these efforts. This directive requires digital platforms to report user income data to tax authorities and facilitates automatic exchange of this data between countries. This measure aims to close many gaps that previously allowed platform-based entrepreneurs, including influencers, to evade taxes across borders.
Under the EU-wide regulations, platforms must now report income made by influencers, making tax evasion more difficult and enabling cross-border investigations, which are relevant in cases where influencer activities span different EU countries.
One of the investigations in NRW is focused on the professional influencer, Friedrich Fülscher. However, information about his response to the investigation is not available at this time. The total amount of suspected tax evasion by all influencers under investigation, including Mr. Fülscher, is approximately 300 million euros.
The scale of evasion and the dedicated institutional response indicate a robust legal crackdown on influencer tax fraud in the region. The investigations in NRW serve as a significant step towards ensuring fair taxation for all, including professional social media influencers.
- The investigations by the LBF NRW in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, not only involves combating tax evasion among professional social media influencers but also aligns with the EU DAC7 Directive, which requires digital platforms to report user income data to tax authorities, thereby making it more challenging for influencers to evade taxes across EC countries.
- The ongoing investigations in North Rhine-Westphalia's general-news landscape, regarding professional influencers such as Friedrich Fülscher, are significant, as they not only highlight a serious issue of tax evasion but also demonstrate a business approach towards ensuring fair financing by addressing the crime-and-justice aspect of large-scale tax fraud.
