Overview

• The Bürgerbewegung Finanzwende has called on German states to oppose the Bureaucracy Reduction Act in the Bundesrat vote.
• The law seeks to reduce the retention period for financial records from ten to eight years, raising concerns over tax fraud detection.
• Critics argue that the shortened retention period could impede investigations into major tax fraud cases like Cum-Ex and Cum-Cum deals.
• Finanzwende suggests an exception for entities under BaFin supervision, delaying the change by one year to aid ongoing investigations.
• Several state finance ministers have already expressed opposition, citing the potential negative impact on state tax revenues.