According to a scientific analysis, the US financial company Blackrock uses gaps in the European system to legally avoid millions of tax payments.
The company thus reaches tax rates that were valued about half as high as the statutory tax rates in Germany, France or Italy, according to the report by the Turkish economist Ceyhun Elgin. He examined the case on behalf of the left-wing European MP Martin Schirdewan. First, the ARD and the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported.
The consequence of the black rock tactics are considerable losses in public income: According to the analysis, Germany alone escaped tax revenue annually from 2017 to 2023. Overall, the EU loses up to around 140 million euros a year.
According to the report, the investment company uses group -internal transactions: For example, it calculates subsidiaries in high -tax countries such as Germany High license fees for using internal software – and thus reduce the taxable profits. At the same time, the fees flow as income to subsidiaries in countries with significantly lower taxes.
Blackrock informs the ARD in writing that the study contains incorrect and misleading claims: “Blackrock pays taxes, according to the tax rates specified by the respective tax authorities.” In tax matters, “conservative is conservative to ensure that Blackrock pays all the legally required taxes”.
Schirdewan emphasized: “It is worrying that governments allow such aggressive tax strategies of multinational corporations.” This is a cross-border problem that makes a brave EU policy necessary. “With Friedrich Merz as Chancellor, however, we have the wrong person in office.” Schirdewan accused the CDU politician to be a financial lobbyist. Merz was chairman of the supervisory board of a Blackrock Germany subsidiary from 2016 to 2021. He resigned when he returned to politics in 2021.
/TAM/DP/NAS
Brussels/Berlin (dpa-Afx)
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