THE TAX DODGERS’ FOOTPATH (2012)

For decades Germans knew they could avoid taxes by parking their money in bank accounts in Austria and Switzerland. Much of this money was carried across the borders physically, through the Customs posts that Jan Stradtmann has recorded. Now Germany has concluded a tax treaty with Switzerland which requires that Swiss banks turn over information on suspected clandestine accounts to Germany tax authorities. Since the treaty increased amounts of money and documents have surfaced in customs checks, as nervous tax dodgers try to get their cash and papers back into Germany, to once again stay ahead of the tax man.