31.   There is little mystery as to why wealthy Germans work so hard at tax avoidance.

32.   This is surely relevant when examining a company for which tax avoidance is something of a fetish.

33.   Transactions with no purpose except tax avoidance are shams under the law and can be disregarded, both appeals courts said.

34.   While Americans practice tax avoidance, the British have grown accustomed to having tax inspectors figure out their taxes for them, with a degree of guesswork.

35.   Yet tax lawyers say privately that most of the proposed alternatives to the current system would be equally vulnerable to tax avoidance.

36.   Prosecutors already have uncovered hundreds of cases of tax avoidance by customers of Dresdner Bank and Commerzbank, Tilmann said.

37.   During that time it has tightened tax laws and has claimed great success in stamping out tax avoidance.

38.   The aim is to stop those set up primarily for tax avoidance or evasion, which costs the government billions of dollars every year.

39.   The goal is to identify countries with laws that encourage tax avoidance, providing the basis for possible international sanctions or other punitive action.

40.   The package also includes tax breaks for businesses embarking on new research and development, a crackdown on tax avoidance and simplification of welfare payments.