Five Nations Join Tax Evasion Operation
A new tax enforcement organization is set to ramp up the nation’s ability to keep an eye out for tax evasion. The Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement, or J5, may sound like something out of the Marvel Universe. In reality, it is a collaborative effort of five major intelligence communities working together to bring down those accused of tax evasion.
In addition to tax enforcement officers from the United States, the J5 includes representatives from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands.
Beginning of a multi-national tax operation
The group formed in an effort to take down suspected tax evasion operations that spanned national borders. Although members of the J5 have worked on the same global cases in the past, these efforts generally involved representatives from each nation working parallel operations. A more recent case resulted in each nation combining efforts and working together on a single operation.
The operation involved an investigation of an alleged tax evasion scheme running out of Central America. In this operation, authorities suspected a financial institution was helping citizens from each of these countries avoid their tax obligations in their home country. This incentivized the five countries to come together and coordinate enforcement efforts to bring down the operation. The group states the operation was successful and led to evidence to support criminal and civil prosecution.
Impact on taxpayers
This effort is one of many used by tax authorities to better ensure taxpayers are meeting their tax obligations. According to the chief of the J5, those accused of tax evasion have never before “been at such risk of being detected as they are now.”
