A Criminological Description of Tax Crimes

Larisa Vladimirovna Platonova

Russia’s transition to a market economy has generated a whole set of new problems, including some related to a radical change in the nature of relationships between the taxpayer and the State. In the centralized command economy, there were no such notions as “tax crimes” or “tax collection levels”. Today, these are grave problems, endangering Russia’s financial and economic stability.

The large scale of tax crimes in Russia today poses a real threat to the economic security of the State. This refers not so much to the number of crimes committed as to increasing penetration of organized crime and corruption into the field of taxation, the growing influence of criminals on commercial banks, external economic operations, lending and financial institutions, and other organizations holding key positions in the national economy, as well as to the global scope and the sophisticated nature of crimes committed.

To combat tax crimes and offenses, to detect, prevent, and terminate them, a specialized law-enforcement agency has been established - the Federal Tax Police Service of the Russian Federation.

The causes of tax crimes can be grouped into three categories: 1) socio-economic; 2) socio-legal; and 3) moral-psychological.

Tax crimes have emerged primarily as a result of the changes occurring in the country’s economy.

The need to raise tax collection levels - one of the central priorities for Russia’s economy.

The main determinant of tax crimes is, in our opinion, the moral/psychological condition of taxpayers. The following three aspects should be identified: 1) a negative attitude to the existing tax system; 2) the low level of legal culture; and 3) mercenary-mindedness.

In our opinion, the tensions in taxation and the tax-dodger mentality in Russia have been brought on by the following factors.

First, the tax system is too rigid; far from promoting producers, it largely leads them to conceal profits and evade taxes.

Second, the principle of imminent punishment for tax crimes has not been adequately enforced in Russia. First of all, this refers to the fact that concealing incomes is still not seen as a grave offense impairing the economic security of the State (even though criminal liability for such offenses was instituted in 1992).

Third, the economy has been penetrated and control over it has been established by criminal organizations, which expand the problem of income concealment to large and even huge dimensions.

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