CHIEF PROSECUTOR MET WITH THE DIRECTOR OF ITA BIH. INTENSIVE COOPERATION IN DETECTION AND PROSECUTION OF PERPETRATORS OF TAX EVASION AGREED

A joint meeting of the Chief Prosecutor - Goran Salihović, Deputy Chief Prosecutor -Božo Mihajlović and Director of the Indirect Taxation Authority - Miro Džakula was held at the Indirect Taxation Authority building - Regional Centre Banja Luka. The meeting participants discussed ways to intensify cooperation in detection and prosecution of perpetrators of the criminal offense of Tax Evasion.  

The current issues were discussed at the meeting as well as the activities on the formation of a specific specialized team for faster and more efficient prosecution of criminal offenses of tax evasion, which should be modeled on the "USKOK" from the neighboring Republic of Croatia.

Engagement of this team will significantly accelerate the joint work on detection of tax evasion in large amounts, prosecution and punishment of perpetrators and recovery of assets into the budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The team would consist of Prosecutors and other staff of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH and specialized investigators from ITA, who already have long time experience in detection of irregularities in the field of VAT.

"The intention is to set up a special team that would operate for a longer period of time, because everything that leads to specialization should be supported and developed," stated the Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH - Goran Salihović.

The published list of debtors who, in terms of VAT, customs and excise, owe about BAM 300 million, was also discussed at the meeting as well as the request of the  Prosecutor’s Office of BiH asking ITA to provide additional information on these debts in order to prosecute in the event of criminal offenses, and the reports filed against a number of natural and legal persons that ITA submitted for failure to pay taxes  and tax evasion, which are processed in the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH.