Current case law shows that the offense of tax evasion, which extends the limitation period from five to ten years, can also be triggered by the missing or inadequate declaration of foreign income for Austrian income or corporate income tax purposes, irrespective of the amount of the hidden foreign income and even in case of tax exempted income to be declared for the purpose of determining the tax rate on the remaining Austrian income only (exemption with progression). Whether income has been taxed abroad is irrelevant. If the tax offense is retroactively adjusted by a voluntary declaration, tax authorities tend to look back ten years. Stefan Bendlinger uses selected current case law of the Federal Fiscal Court on cross-border issues to show that the failure to declare foreign sourced income is not a “trivial offense" but usually is deemed to constitute tax evasion which triggers an extended limitation period and may lead to severe consequences under the Austrian Financial Crimes Act.
