Prague, Aug 23 (CTK) – The Czech Finance Ministry wants customs officers to be authorised to investigate tax crimes, which only police can do now, Finance Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) told reporters on Tuesday, while Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (Social Democrats, CSSD) criticised the proposal.
The Customs Authority, which comes under the Finance Ministry, plans to extend the powers of customs officers in this respect as of 2019.
Chovanec, who intends to establish the financial police as of next year, says the Customs Authority is not prepared for crime investigation either in terms of personnel or professional skills.
According to the proposal, the Customs Authority would also gain the powers to assess legal complaints concerning other taxes, not only VAT and excise tax, which is the case now, and customs officers would gain powers to seek and seize proceeds from criminal activities.
“The intention of Andrej Babis is not systemic and it runs counter to the trend of the successful cooperation of the Tax Cobra,” Chovanec said.
This special unit, comprised of police, customs officers and financial administration and fighting serious financial crime, has been working for more than two years and prevented tax evasion worth over six billion crowns.
Customs officers participate only in preparatory proceedings in the Czech Republic now, similar to Bulgaria, Ireland, Netherlands and Sweden, while in the neighbouring Austria, Germany, Poland and Slovakia as well as in France, Greece, Hungary and Italy, they can also take part in further investigation phases, the Finance Ministry said.
Babis pointed out that his ministry’s plan was in harmony with the long-term concept of the Customs Authority’s development.
The Finance Ministry must discuss the proposed changes with the Justice Ministry since they require an amendment to the criminal order. The Finance Ministry wants to submit the proposal to the government in the weeks to come.
At present, if customs officers uncover a tax crime, they must transfer it to the police directly or look into it with a state attorney’s consent but only until criminal prosecution is launched. Then the police take over the case.
According to the draft, the investigation into tax crimes will be carried out either by customs officers or police depending on whom of them learnt about the crime first and on particular circumstances of the case. The Customs Authority should inform the respective police section about launching investigation.
A state attorney will decide on the authorisation in the case of a dispute between the bodies about investigating powers, the Finance Ministry said.
Both police and customs officers are supervised by a state attorney now.
