International tax enforcement chiefs search for cryptocurrency tax criminals

Leaders of tax enforcement authorities from the U.S., Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom met this week to discuss ways to deal with tax crimes and tax evasion, particularly involving cryptocurrency.

The Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement from the five countries, known as the J5, brought together investigators, cryptocurrency experts and data scientists to discuss how they can track down tax criminals who are using cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin.

“The goal of the week was to remove some barriers and work together collaboratively to identify the most egregious tax offenders in the world,” said Ryan Korner, executive special agent in charge of the Los Angeles Field Office of IRS Criminal Investigations, which hosted the challenge this year. “Cybercrimes and the cybercriminals who commit them don’t have any borders and it’s imperative that we work together to protect the global financial system and the integrity of each nation’s tax system.”