5 Countries Establish Group to Fight Cryptocurrency Tax Crime

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5 Countries Establish Group to Fight Cryptocurrency Tax Crime

Source:https://coincodex.com/article/1976/5-countries-establish-group-to-fight-cryptocurrency-tax-crime/
Posted: July 05, 2018

Tax enforcement agencies from the United States, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have formed J5, an international organization aimed at combating »transnational tax crime«, with cryptocurrency being singled out as an area of focus. Apparently, the formation of J5 was a response to a call to action from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The press release states:

»We are convinced that offshore structures and financial instruments, where used to commit tax crime and money laundering, are detrimental to the economic, fiscal, and social interests of our countries.«

Since cryptocurrency allows for value to be moved across the world quickly and anonymously (depending on the type of cryptocurrency used and precautions taken by the sender and receiver), it’s no wonder that government agencies are seeing it as a substantial threat. While some regulation and improved enforcement could help the cryptocurrency space mature, the growth and innovation in the sector could be stifled if regulators and tax enforcement agencies go for extreme measures. For now, the specifics of the scope of J5’s activity are still unclear.

Don Fort, the head of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division, told Forbes that the lack of cooperation between different governments allows criminals to exploit vulnerabilities:

"The J5 aims to break down those walls, build upon individual best practices, and become an operational group that is forward-thinking and can pressurize the global criminal community in ways we could not achieve on our own."

In February, the IRS deployed 10 agents to investigate tax crimes connected with cryptocurrency. The IRS says cryptocurrency can play a role similar to foreign bank accounts when it comes to facilitating tax evasion.