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Unusual Toilet Tax Evasion Trial Officially Begins

Unusual Toilet Tax Evasion Trial Officially Begins

An unusual tax evasion trial involving public restrooms has officially gotten underway in Germany.

According to a new report about the case, a 49-year-old female defendant is accused of withholding around €1.2 million [$1.2 million] in taxes after under-reporting revenue she earned from paid public restrooms. 

In many Western European nations, like France, Germany, and Spain, it is not uncommon for toilets at facilities like restaurants, shopping malls, and gas stations to have voluntary contribution plates where visitors can leave change. 

Per the aforementioned report, the defendant, who hails from the town of Cottbus, is "accused of concealing this income from the state in eight separate instances between 2005 and 2008, while running a cleaning company maintaining a network of restrooms."

It is important to note that this particular tax evasion court case is complicated on several levels. For starters, the cases date back over 14 years, which is the statute of limitations for German tax fraud. Due to this, some of the potential charges were not legally prosecutable from the start. 

Additionally, several of the sites in question were located over the Austrian border, so there are unanswered questions regarding whether or not Germany has jurisdiction to prosecute for those locations, even though the cleaning company owner is -- and was at the time -- a German resident. 

Furthermore, since there is no fixed price for using the paid public restrooms in question, it is impossible to know precisely how many Euros the defendant pocketed. The judge in the case indicated that, in general, these sites can bring in anywhere from €30 to €500 per day.

The judge also reportedly suggested that a figure of €600,000, rather than €1.2 million might be more appropriate.  

Chief prosecutor Elvira Klein acknowledged the challenges of the trial, telling DPA News Agency, "You have to try to approach the result that's the most likely, as close to reality as is possible."

The trial is expected to last for six days total, ending the first week of September. 

What do you think about this unusual tax evasion trial?

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Rebekah Barton

Rebekah Barton

Rebekah's search engine optimization career began completely by accident as a college student. Over the course of her career so far, she has "grown up" with the SEO industry, from writing content while juggling classes to managing her own teams of writers and overseeing SEO strategy in subsequent roles. She is excited to bring her passion for high-quality content to CountingWorks, Inc.

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