Money transfer business
September 11, 2011 | 25,00 EUR | answered by StB Manuela Ponikwar
A European agency of a Chinese company is offering me a transaction business: they want to transfer about 5000 euros to my account, from which I should withdraw 4000 euros and buy paysafe or ucash vouchers, whose PIN numbers I should then email to the company. So I would keep 20% of the money. They also wrote to me that this is transparent and legal for tax authorities and banks.
Question: Is this true and how should I tax this? Do I need a license for this? What risks do you see?
Dear client,
Thank you very much for your inquiry, which I would like to answer taking into consideration the appropriate fee for an initial consultation as follows:
From your information, I gather that you are not actually working for the company, meaning you are not employed and not a legal representative of the company here in Germany. You are likely a private individual who was possibly approached by the agency.
In essence, you are providing a type of brokerage service for which you receive a commission. If this is not done on a sustainable basis, i.e. regularly, the profit would likely be subject to income tax under §22 No. 3 EStG. However, without a sustainable activity with the intent of making a profit, you would not be considered a business entity for VAT purposes.
The exact economic purpose of this activity is completely unclear. Both the "European agency" and the Chinese company would likely be perfectly capable of purchasing the necessary vouchers themselves. Additionally, you are receiving a substantial "commission" of 20% for a mundane task.
The economic purpose of the transaction, the plausibility, as well as the actual identity of the company and its representatives are likely unknown to you.
If these factors cannot be made plausible to you and are not clearly documented, I strongly recommend refraining from this transaction, as it may potentially involve money laundering, where illegally earned money is covertly introduced in small amounts into the legal economic cycle through proxies or shell companies.
Money laundering is punishable in Germany under § 261 StGB. Attempting and aiding in money laundering are also punishable offenses.
By the way, your financial institution is obligated to report suspicions of money laundering against you as their own customer under § 11 GwG if the transaction becomes suspicious.
I hope this information is helpful to you.
Sincerely,
Manuela Ponikwar
Tax advisor
www.ponikwar.de
