Reducing economic crime and the shadow economy

Since 1996, the Government has made six resolutions on the Action Plan to Reduce Economic Crime and the Shadow Economy. The first Action Plan covered the years 1996–1998, and the current Action Plan is for the years 2012–2015. The resolutions were drawn up in cooperation coordinated by the Ministry of the Interior, involving a number of ministries and agencies.

The resolutions have included numerous measures. Responsibility for carrying out these measures has rested with various ministries and agencies. In the Ministry of the Interior’s branch of government, the police play a key role in combating economic crime and the shadow economy.

Measures for the period 2012–2015

The key measures included in the Action Plan to Reduce Economic Crime and the Shadow Economy in 2012–2015 are:

• A photo ID card with tax number will be introduced in the construction industry. A register of tax numbers maintained by the Tax Administration will be launched in autumn 2012.
• Employers in the construction industry will be required to submit monthly employee and contract reports to the Tax Administration.
• The Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out will be amended by extending the contractor’s obligations and the scope of application of the Act.
• The Act on Public Contracts will be amended.
• To prevent international tax arbitrage, obstacles to information exchange between the authorities will be removed and the necessary registers made flexibly available to the authorities responsible for combating the shadow economy.
• An overall assessment will be conducted of the legislation governing the use of foreign labour, and its shortcomings. Following this, the necessary legislative amendments will be introduced.
• The Tax Administration will enhance the control and guidance concerning transfer pricing, international profit shifting, expenditure targeting and international restructuring operations.
• To make the control by the authorities more effective, efforts will be made to reduce the overall length of criminal procedures in economic crime cases.
• Penalties for economic crimes will also be toughened up.
• Labour protection authorities will be given increased powers to check that employee remuneration is in line with legislation and the workplace collective agreement.
• Tripartite discussions will be held to ensure the adequacy of resources for labour protection supervision and to establish the relevant mandates.

Preparatory stage

The project will run from 15 March 2012 to 31 December 2015.

Contact person: Superintendent Antti Simanainen, tel. +358 71 878 8577