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Bundestag Backs Tougher Crackdown on Undeclared Work With AI, ID Checks

Officials project about €2 billion in extra revenue by 2029 from tighter enforcement.

Overview

  • Parliament approved a law empowering the customs unit FKS to use digital, AI‑supported analysis and faster data exchanges with police and tax investigators to detect illegal employment.
  • High‑risk sector rules now cover hairdressers and barbershops, nail studios and certain delivery drivers, with a requirement to carry ID at work and fines of up to €5,000 for non‑compliance.
  • Banks, insurers and securities firms must keep booking records for a permanent ten‑year period to strengthen the prosecution of tax fraud.
  • FKS is obliged to report detected undeclared work promptly to jobcenters so benefit authorities can make Bürgergeld decisions, including potential sanctions.
  • Government communications cite roughly €2 billion in additional revenue through 2029, while a figure referenced in legislative documents reported by taz puts the expected intake at €858 million.