Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5) Formed to Fight Crypto Tax Crimes

J5 Countries Join Forces to Bring Crypto Crimes to Light

With a striking growth in cryptocurrencies near the end of 2017, many governments worldwide have begun to question consumers who have failed to report all matters crypto and the most important, crypto crimes, which include the likes of money laundering, illegal activities and more.

An announcement made July 3^rd, 2018, shows that five countries have joined what’s called the Joint Chiefs and Global Tax Enforcement (J5) as an attempt to dig deeper into crypto investors and their failure to report profits made.

According to a CCN report, the five members include the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), the Fiscale Inlichtingen en Opsporingsdienst (FIOD), U.K HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

The Director General of the Canada Revenue Agency, Johanne Charbonneau, recently shared her perspective on the J5 and what they five members will be fighting against. In her statement, she openly said that the,

“J5 demonstrates the serious commitment of governments around the globe in enhancing cooperation in fighting serious international tax and financial crimes, money laundering, and cybercrime through the use of cryptocurrencies.”

This is supposedly not the first attempt from such countries. For instance, the IRS of U.S took Coinbase to court, as an effort to get information regarding their customers. This was predominantly done to validate which individuals failed to report their appropriate incomes in their tax returns.

While taxes are one thing, the main concern that many country officials fear include any terrorist-based crimes. Especially given the fact that such individuals will be able to finance their assets without getting caught and doing so in a private and secure manner.

The General Director of FIOD, Hans van der Vlist, has also shared a positive statement regarding J5. Vlist appears to be impressed with the overall J5 effort and their eagerness to tackle a growing concern together. Here is what was being shared:

“The unique thing about the J5 is the operational collaboration between five countries on tackling professional enablers that facilitate offshore tax crime, cybercrime, and the threat of cryptocurrencies to tax administrations.”