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Tax and crime

The OECD Task Force on Tax Crimes and Other Crimes (TFTC) supports global efforts to stamp out illicit financial flows through implementation of the “Oslo Dialogue”, a strategy launched in 2011 to promote ‘whole of government’ approaches to fighting tax crime and other financial crimes through standard setting, sharing of best practices, and capacity building.

Countries around the globe are facing a common threat posed by increasingly complex and innovative forms of financial crime. Tax evasion, fraud, corruption, money laundering, and other financial crimes threaten the strategic, political, and economic interests of all countries and undermine public trust in government and the financial system. Combatting these closely related crimes requires financial transparency, robust legal and institutional frameworks, and effective co-operation between tax administrations and other law enforcement authorities.

Underpinned by the OECD’s Ten Global Principles for Fighting Tax Crime, the TFTC delivers a range of practical tools, guidance, training, and other capacity building initiatives that provide critical support to jurisdictions in their fight against tax and other financial crimes both domestically and internationally.

 

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimate criminal proceeds from all illicit activities represent around
3.6% of global GDP or USD 2.1 trillion

Governance

As a subsidiary body of the OECD’s Committee on Fiscal Affairs (CFA), the OECD Task Force on Tax Crimes and Other Crimes (TFTC) comprises all 38 OECD Member countries and Argentina. In keeping with OECD standard-setting in other areas of taxation, participation in TFTC meetings is also open to non-OECD Member countries and is regularly attended by a diverse range of developed and developing jurisdictions from around the globe.*

In line with its mandate to promote whole of government approaches to combatting tax and other financial crimes, broad-ranging government authorities make up the TFTC, including civil and criminal tax examiners and other financial crimes authorities (e.g. police, prosecutors, and authorities working on anti-corruption, financial intelligence, anti-money laundering, asset recovery, etc.).

The TFTC’s mission to crack down on illicit financial flows is more important than ever with a new wave of threats and vulnerabilities arising from the COVID-19 crisis, the continued growth of cybercrime spurred on by new technologies, and the increasingly sophisticated use of professional enablers for criminal enterprise. To keep pace with these ever-evolving threats, the TFTC meets twice yearly in Paris for real-time exchange of experiences, case studies, best practices, and other tools and measures to counter this damaging conduct.

* For a full list of non-OECD Member jurisdictions eligible to participate in TFTC meetings and projects, please see the CFA's Participation Plan.

Capacity building activities

While illicit financial flows (IFFs) are a global concern, they are particularly damaging to developing countries, which struggle to mobilise domestic resources to finance their own development in a sustainable manner. In Africa alone, a 2020 UNCTAD report estimates annual losses in excess of USD 88 billion due to IFFs - close half of the USD 200 billion financing gap the continent faces to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This lost revenue could otherwise have been invested in sustainable development, for example, by improving healthcare, education, infrastructure, and other public services. Helping governments to tackle this issue more effectively will not only bolster domestic resource mobilisation but also help build trust and confidence in the fairness of the tax system and in government as a whole, which is critical given the central role that tax measures have played in providing relief throughout the pandemic.

     

OECD International Academy for Tax and Financial Crime Investigation

Through a range of on-site and virtual training courses, the Academy provides law enforcement authorities with the practical knowledge and tools necessary for the effective detection, investigation, enforcement, and deterrence of tax and other financial crimes.

Since the launch of the first centre in Ostia, Italy, in 2013, the Academy has expanded rapidly to meet the growing demand of developing jurisdictions through the establishment of regional centres for Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America

Tax Inspectors Without Borders – Criminal Investigation Programme

TIWB-CI is a bilateral technical assistance programme tailored to the specific investigative needs of individual jurisdictions. TIWB-CI is focussed on strengthening developing jurisdictions’ capacity to combat tax crime by addressing systemic challenges and enhancing investigative capacity, including through real-time resolution of complex cases.

TIWB-CI builds on the success of the joint OECD/UNDP TIWB initiative, focussed on enhancing civil tax audit capacity in developing countries.

Tax Crime Investigation Maturity Model

The OECD’s Tax Crime Maturity Model is designed to support jurisdictions in assessing their legal and operational frameworks for countering tax crime. The Maturity Model allows jurisdictions to benchmark their capabilities to combat tax crime along a number of key indicators based on the Ten Global Principles for Fighting Tax Crime. The Maturity Model is already in use by all jurisdictions involved in the TIWB-CI programme and is also freely available to all jurisdictions as a self-assessment tool to assess, monitor, and track their progress on implementation of the Ten Global Principles over time.

E-learning courses

The OECD has developed interactive tax crime e-learning modules to provide officials with a base knowledge on OECD tax crime standards and best practices. These courses are available free of charge to government officials from all countries.

Tax crime modules


Full list of e-learning courses on international taxation
Quick guide on registering for e-learningEN/FR/ES

Events

The OECD Forum on Tax and Crime and Forum of Heads of Tax Crime Investigation are the premier global events on combatting tax crimes and other financial crimes. Senior policy makers, law enforcement authorities, and other financial crime experts tackle issues at the forefront of the global fight against illicit financial flows.

Publications

Contact the OECD Tax Crime Team

By e-mail: OECD.TaxandCrime@oecd.org
On social media: @OECDtax (Twitter) & OECD Tax (LinkedIn)