AFAIK in Germany they can ask you to submit your banking history for tax purposes (for example they have doubts about your declaration), if you fail to submit it or refuse, they can go to the bank, but you are notified way before they go through the bank and if you comply with the request, they don't go to the bank at all.

Also the request must be authorized by the state tax office, it's not like every government employee can request and obtain the list of all of your transactions.

quick googling would show that your knowledge on this is dated (laws changed in mid 2000). See linked article[1] (or many other articles like it - it was a huge topic at the time creating much outrage).

The bank will not be informed of the invasion of privacy (the excuse is so that banking customers don't have any negative impact when they realize customers get probed - it's probably more to avoid spooking the public about the frequency of how often this happens).

> Also the request must be authorized by the state tax office, it's not like every government employee can request and obtain the list of all of your transactions.

you're mistaken. These are the organs which have automated access (in addition to the IRS):

  -  social services
  -  job center
  -  bailiff
  -  state attorney
  -  customs authorities

it's designed to put pressure on low income groups in society, while the HNWI's and corporate big fish can cloak themselves with an armor of impenetrable offshore tools[2].

[1] in German (just run through any translate service): https://www.vlh.de/wissen-service/steuer-nachrichten/kontena...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Islands:_Tax_Havens_a...