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The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has joined the tax enforcement authorities of the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Netherlands to establish a joint operational group, the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5) to work together in the fight against international tax crime and money laundering, the CRA announced Tuesday.

The J5 says it will work on building international enforcement capability by sharing information, enhancing operational capability and conducting joint operations to target those who enable and facilitate offshore tax crimes.

The J5 includes the heads of tax crime and senior officials from the CRA, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and Australian Taxation Office, the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD), Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.

The J5 was formed in response to a call to action from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for countries to do more to tackle the enablers of tax crime.

At the group’s first meeting in late June, the J5 brought together experts in tax investigations and financial crime and cybercrime, as well as big-data analysts, from each member country. Together they developed tactical plans and identified opportunities to pursue cyber criminals and enablers of transnational tax crime.

“The formation of the J5 demonstrates the serious commitment of governments around the globe in enhancing international cooperation in fighting serious international tax and financial crimes, money laundering and cybercrime through the use of cryptocurrencies,” Johanne Charbonneau, director general of the CRA, stated in a release.

Said Hans van der Vlist, general director of FIOD: “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, as well as making best use of internationally available data and technology.”

The five member countries will continue discussions through regular quarterly conference calls as well as at the next OECD Forum on Tax and Crime meeting in 2019.