LEONHARD KURZ visual and digital security elements on tax stamps offer reliable protection against tampering

Fürth/Germany, May 04, 2022: When securing tax revenues, authorities rely on LEONHARD KURZ’s highly functional tax stamps with sophisticated and particularly reliable tamper protection. The expert in thin film technology offers various security levels that can be conveniently and transparently combined as required.

KURZ has reinterpreted the possibilities for designing tax stamps and is now relying, among other things, on best practices in the area of security documents. With this long-standing expertise, tax stamps can be designed even more easily in the future and thus offer practicable and future-proof protection against manipulation. The new interplay of visual and digital security features developed by KURZ creates security while at the same time minimizing time and costs along the entire production chain.

TRUSTSEAL® and new digital features

The tried-and-tested TRUSTSEAL® technology, which is already used for security/ID documents for numerous authorities, is constantly being further developed by KURZ. Recently, groundbreaking ‘first line’ security features such as Diffractive Gold or Diffractive Red have been added, along with other features based on proven Optical Variable Device (OVD) technology. These are proprietary and can be combined with digital security features as customer demand for additional tamper protection increases.

The bridge between physical and digital tax stamp protection is provided by ValiGate®. This security solution from SCRIBOS, a wholly owned KURZ subsidiary, reliably prevents counterfeiting attempts thanks to double encryption. Here, the unique security pattern with an intelligent structure gives every QR code a copy-protected identity. The digital component of the tax stamp sleeve can be individually designed and easily checked on the product to be protected, using a smartphone. This provides direct information about the authenticity of the tax stamp. ValiGate® makes it impossible to copy or reproduce tax stamps, preventing tax fraud at the root.

The Visible Digital Seal (VDS) ensures even greater protection against tampering. The technology, which has long been used for ID documents, visas, and vaccination certificates, has been further developed by KURZ and now also offers the highest level of security for tax stamps. The data is given a cryptographically encrypted signature. This provides the QR code with reliable protection against tampering, as each identity can only be created once. In the next step, the QR codes can be printed on the tax stamp in seconds using a conventional printer, and their authenticity can also be checked with a conventional smartphone.

Tax stamp security from a single source

As a leading provider of security solutions for tax stamps, KURZ has more than 40 years of experience. The company uses this expertise to develop individual, tamper-proof solutions for customers. In addition to security concepts, the industry expert also offers highly specialized consulting services.