5. Conclusions and Recommendations This report has described how tax authorities and law enforcement authorities (LEAs) are able to complement one another when they no longer work in silos, which they are still doing in many jurisdictions. Improving their cooperation will lead to progress in the fight against both “regular” financial crime and tax evasion. To improve cooperation between the tax agencies and the LEAs engaged in this effort, countries should consider the following recommendations: 1. Overcome legal barriers to information exchange by •
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Facilitating cooperation through developing a legislative framework formally linking tax crimes to broader financial crimes, particularly by making tax evasion a predicate offense of money laundering and prosecuting such cases; Enacting and implementing legislation authorizing or mandating tax authorities to disclose to prosecutors or LEAs transactions found during tax audits for which there is a reasonable basis to believe that they facilitate the commission of financial crimes; Enacting and implementing legislation authorizing or mandating LEAs to disclose to tax authorities information and evidence found during criminal investigations when there is a reasonable basis to believe that tax evasion is committed; Developing internal standard operating procedures governing the interagency exchange of information, specifying the nature of information to be shared, the time frame, and the exact steps to follow; and Removing legal and administrative barriers to international cooperation between the relevant agencies and the tax authorities and financial intelligence units (FIUs) of counterpart countries.
2. Enhance the availability and collection of pertinent information by Enacting and implementing legal provisions to recover unexplained wealth, illicit enrichment, or unjustified resources to facilitate the recovery of assets and taxes; • Ensuring that tax forms for politically exposed persons and their close relatives include questions on whether they submitted asset disclosure forms and ensuring that tax authorities and LEAs can access these forms easily; •
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