Number of tax fraud goes up in 2017

Finnish Customs investigated a total of 1,086 cases of tax fraud in 2017, according to an official press release issued on Monday.

The number of tax fraud was 914 in the previous year.

Uncovered cases of aggravated tax fraud were 83. The cases of aggravated tax fraud mainly consisted of the illegal import of cigarettes, alcohol and Swedish snus and also taxes related to vehicles, excise duty, VAT, customs duties, and illegal activities related to the transit procedure.

Finnish Customs has, as in previous years, uncovered illegal activities in the logistics sector in connection with export and transit procedures.

The cases under investigation by Customs have involved goods which were not duly cleared for export or had incorrect goods descriptions, among other things.

The internet is used to an increasing extent in marketing and selling highly taxable products to consumers, while evading the tax regulations concerning these products.

Finnish Customs, together with the Tax Administration and foreign law enforcement authorities, fights the increasing number of frauds connected to value added taxation in Union trade.