J5 Global Tax Enforcement Group Releases First-Ever Progress Report

The Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5), an alliance of the tax enforcement agencies of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and the Netherlands, released its first ever progress report.

The J5 was founded in 2018 to improve cooperation on complex international tax cases and target the so-called “sophisticated international enablers of tax evasion” that were thought to be out of reach for a single member nation to investigate alone.

In its report, the J5 highlighted several progress areas. It notes the organization has helped improve communication and information sharing among agencies in member states.

“The J5 was bought together for the purpose of tackling tax crime—it’s a global problem and we answered it with a global solution,” said Deputy Commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) John Ford. “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.”

The J5 also highlighted successes with its various challenge events, where representatives gathered to discuss and train on issues such as cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The report said those challenges led to “significant leads for each country to investigate.”

And the Global Financial Institutions Partnership (GFIP) was lauded as one of the groups biggest achievements. The partnership brought together more than 20 financial institutions to collaborate on shared priority threats.

Cyber Success
Another area highlighted is the J5 Cyber Group, which is currently working on more than 30 active investigations as it works to recover criminal proceeds and unpaid taxes. Ten of those investigations stemmed from the 2023 J5 Cyber Challenge in Canada.

So far, J5 cyber investigations have led to the seizure of more than $333 million in assets and cash, and over $25 million in cryptocurrency.

The team also provided training on cyber issues to tax enforcement in non J5 nations such as Israel, South Africa, and Taiwan.

Professional Enabler Group

The J5 Professional Enabler Group uses a wide range of powers to “disrupt and close the net on high-value targets.”

Cases highlighted include the Euro Pacific Bank, which was at the center of a global of day of action for suspected tax evasion in 2020, a suspected boiler room scheme which resulted in the indictments of ten people, and a U.S. defense contractor who pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

IRS CI

The report also broke down highlights from each nation’s tax enforcement agency.  

In the U.S., Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) said in fiscal year (FY) 2023 it investigated $5.4 billion in tax fraud and more than $31.5 billion in other financial crimes.

CI noted that it trained teams around the world and works with a multitude of international law enforcement agencies.  

“Six years ago, our five countries took a chance and publicly joined together to root out tax crimes,” said IRS CI Chief Guy Ficco. “We have learned a tremendous amount by working together and we are now an organization firing on all cylinders with real operational results – results that would not exist were it not for the J5. I’m proud of what we have accomplished together, but I’m also excited about what we can accomplish in the years ahead.”