Cis Tax Bodies Not Efficient In Combating Economic Crimes

Tax bodies of the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States have not been efficient in combating economic crimes, Armenia's Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan has said. He made this statement at the 3rd session of the Coordination Council of the Chief Executives of CIS Tax (Financial) Investigation Bodies, which opened on Thursday in the Armenian capital. Markaryan said the interaction potential of CIS tax bodies has not been fully tapped. Tax crimes pose a real threat to the economic security of CIS countries and impede the development of market relations in the CIS and economic cooperation between CIS countries. The prime minister said the Coordination Council must become a centre of struggle against violations of financial laws. The main result of this struggle must be "a real increase in budget revenues and termination of attempts to legalise illegal incomes." The director of Russia's Federal Tax Police Service, Mikhail Fradkov, said that joint efforts by CIS countries to combat economic crimes "lack system." Fradkov said CIS tax investigation bodies every year recover hundreds of millions of dollars for their states, yet "this is an insignificant sum, compared to the real scale of economic crime." He emphasised the importance of drafting a concept of a United Databank which would contain information on violations of financial and tax laws by businesses operating in the CIS.