Combating Tax Evasion and Tax Crimes

Distinguish and establish criteria for tax evasion and tax crimes

Over the last decades, tax authorities around the world have made continuous efforts to prevent and crack down on tax evasion and achieved the desired results. However, with technological development facilitating anonymous transactions and the emergence of new methods for storing value, there has been an increase in “grey areas” and sophisticated tax crimes.

Advanced tax crimes easily escape tax jurisdictions’ surveillance network aimed at curbing tax evasion. Even when caught, tax offenders are frequently let off the hook, owing to the challenges in enforcing tax evasion penalties under the current law. These circumstances have fuelled the demand for finding more “secure” ways to evade taxes.

In addition, because tax evasion often spans multiple jurisdictions, including cross-border asset transfers and undeclared offshore financial accounts, it requires multilateral co-operation to tackle.