Hitler clearly felt paying tax was beneath him and his government in due course gave him a formal exemption as Chancellor, ruling that his tax papers should all be destroyed.
He poured the money into property: a luxury apartment in central Munich, a villa used by Braun and most of all his Alpine home at Berchtesgaden, bought in 1936 for the equivalent of £120,000 at today's prices but steadily enlarged into a sumptuous 30-room mansion.
The documentary makers estimate he ploughed the equivalent of £136million into the place at today's prices.
The house was damaged by British bombing, set on fire by retreating SS troops and finally levelled by the post-war German government in 1952.
Hitler also intended to be the world's greatest art collector, amassing works that he genuinely did intend to exhibit in Linz.
By the end of the war he had gathered some 8,500 pictures for this purpose. Unlike many Nazis he didn't loot the treasures and does appear to have bought them legitimately, albeit sometimes at knockdown prices.
These paintings were among those recovered by the Allies from underground tunnels in Austria after the war, with a total value of almost £1million.
As for cash, in the post-war period the forerunner of the CIA found that Hitler had access to massive amounts.
Agents discovered Swiss bank accounts holding 45million Reichsmarks - equivalent to £210million today.
Latest World News
