Tax chiefs make global impact: J5 report
The Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement are currently working on more than 30 active cyber crime investigations, according to their first report released July 24.
The Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5) has released its first report since its establishment in 2018, providing insight into the global impact of operations, public-private partnerships, and stakeholder engagements.
The ATO defines J5 as a group that “leads the fight against international tax crime and money laundering, including cryptocurrency threats and those who undertake, enable or facilitate global tax evasion.”
The organisation is globally spread and includes the ATO, the CRA from Canada, FIOD from the Netherlands, HMRC from the UK and IRS CI from the US.
The members work together to “gather information, share intelligence and conduct coordinated operations against transnational financial crimes.”
The J5 report revealed that the five countries are collectively pursuing more than 30 active cyber investigations and 10 active investigations, which stemmed from leads at the J5 Cyber Challenge in Canada 2023.
Since the tax crime group’s inception six years ago they have had significant success in tackling global tax crime.
The group has produced over “one hundred leads, seized millions of dollars in criminal proceeds, issued notices to financial institutions and thwarted fraudulent investment and boiler-room schemes,” the ATO said.
The report highlighted particular triumphs for the J5 Professional Enablers Group such as criminal charges against 15 individuals associated with boiler-room schemes and tax evasion charges against a US defence contractor.
The J5 has also provided training to multiple countries such as South Africa, Israel, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Ukraine.
Deputy commissioner of the ATO, John Ford, said the establishment of J5 was a global solution for a global problem.
“We can’t afford to work in isolation whilst organised criminals and tax cheats operate globally and then hide behind borders to try to evade consequences,” Ford said.
“Over the last six years, we’ve had some great achievements which wouldn’t have been possible without this network, and I’m confident our successes will continue in the years to come.”
In addition to the work J5 does in locating and abolishing tax crime, the professional body stated it considers the launch of the Global Financial Institutions program (GFIP) as one of its “biggest achievements.”
The partnership consists of more than 20 financial institutions to collaborate on shared priority threats and convene at an annual ‘GFIP summit’ to discuss the best ways to combat tax crimes.
IRS and CI chief Guy Ficco said the formation of J5 between Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the U.S. has been the best solution to “root out tax crimes.”
“We have learned a tremendous amount by working together and we are now an organisation firing on all cylinders with real operational results- results that would not exist were it not for the J5,” Ficco said.
“I’m proud of what we have accomplished together, but I’m also excited about what we can accomplish in the years ahead.”
HMRC director Richard Las mirrored this pride in the organisation's work and said the bold alliance will continue its mission at pace.
“We know that criminals don’t recognise or respect our borders,” he said.
“That’s why we launched this ground-breaking alliance, harnessing our collective skills and expertise to make the world a smaller place for tax cheats.”
The J5 members are set to share their work at the annual GFIP Summit which will take place in Canada in the second half of this year.
