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Ending the Shell Game: Cracking down on the Professionals who enable Tax and White Collar Crimes
explores the different strategies and actions that countries can take
against those professional service providers who play a crucial part in
the planning and pursuit of criminal activity, referred to in the report
as “professional enablers.” White collar crimes like tax evasion,
bribery and corruption are often hidden through complex legal structures
and financial transactions facilitated by lawyers, notaries,
accountants, financial institutions and other professional enablers.
The report notes that the majority of professional service providers
are law-abiding, and play an important role in assisting businesses and
individuals understand and comply with the law. The aim of the new OECD
report is to assist countries in dealing with the small subset that use
their specialised skills and knowledge to enable clients to defraud the
government and evade their tax obligations.
Professional enablers often play a critical role in the concealment
of the commission of tax and other financial crimes perpetrated by their
clients. Those who facilitate the concealment of such crimes undermine
the rule of law and public confidence in the legal and financial system,
as well as the level playing field between compliant and non-compliant
taxpayers. Highly publicised recent tax scandals have highlighted the
cross-border nature of these practices, further undermining public trust
in the integrity of the tax system.
“Professional enablers often hold the key to the successful
commission of white collar crimes like tax evasion, bribery and
corruption, which depend on ensuring anonymity and hiding the financial
trail,” said Grace-Perez Navarro, Deputy Director of the OECD’s Centre
of Tax Policy and Administration. “Professional enablers help criminals
conceal their identities and activities through shell companies, complex
legal structures and financial transactions, relying on their
specialised knowledge and veneer of legitimacy. Our ongoing work is
intended to help countries develop and strengthen national strategies
and international co-operation to crack down on the so-called
professionals, whose actions are undermining government revenue, public
confidence and economic growth.”
The report calls on countries to establish or strengthen national strategies to deal with professional enablers more effectively. Such strategies should:
The report will be presented during a dedicated session at the virtual OECD Global Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum on 24 March at 16:45 to 17:45 (CET). The Forum will be open to the public and interested participants are invited to register to attend.