Overview

• The LBF NRW unified all tax-fraud operations in January 2025 into Germany’s first state-level financial-crime authority with about 1,200 experts.
• A dedicated Influencer-Team is currently analyzing a 6,000-record package from multiple platforms to quantify the suspected €300 million in unpaid taxes.
• Approximately 200 criminal proceedings are underway against professional content creators, with average alleged evasion in the high five-figure range and some cases reaching millions.
• Investigators have developed bespoke digital-forensics tools to trace ephemeral ad placements, affiliate link revenues and cross-border address deregistrations.
• Several other German states have signaled plans to adopt NRW’s specialist unit and investigative techniques to tackle influencer tax evasion.