Taxing earnings from white-collar crime

The General Directorate of Revenue (DGI) does the right thing by asking the Judicial Branch to inform it of sentences in cases of corruption and money laundering to begin tax processes, in order to collect taxes, even on ill-gotten gains. It is important to let white-collar crime, as well as organized crime, know that their actions, from a tax perspective, will also be prosecuted because the Tax Code establishes this. The judicial authorities must agree to the request made by the DGI, because otherwise the necessary steps cannot be made to establish the amounts owed to the treasury. In this way, other dissuasive sanctions are established for criminals who operate within the government machinery. This may be one of the few times that the Tax Code is asked to apply to pursue profits from crimes such as money laundering. It was time for the DGI to take the initiative in this matter, otherwise it would remain a dead letter, as it had been until now. The decision to allow the DGI to do its work is now in the hands of the Judicial Branch. – LA PRENSA, Jan. 24.