Background

In these days of the paperless office, many individuals and organisations take advantage of the tax officers’ general lack of understanding of computer systems to avoid or evade paying the correct amount of tax. The techniques vary from the sophisticated use of “zappers” to reduce the sales through a cash register, to a simple “off record” spreadsheet showing the opening hours and takings of the business.
To be able to extract information from a computer system whilst at the same time avoiding any allegations that information has either been “planted” or tampered with requires the specialist knowledge of sophisticated software and careful recording of procedures. These skills generally fall under the heading of forensic computing.
Computer forensics is an area that many tax administrations work with. It may be differently organized in different countries. Some administrations do it as an integrated part of their business activities, whilst others have special units that handle computer forensics. However, the challenges they face are the same. There will also be some tax administrations that still do not use computer forensics, but who would benefit from the experience of others in this field.

Objectives

This workshop is intended to provide a platform where countries can:

1. Share good practice in the use of Computer Forensic Tools and techniques in Tax Fraud and Avoidance cases.
2. Examine and demonstrate the latest available forensic tools with the participation of forensic software providers

Target Audience

Technical staff involved in the day-to-day operation of forensic software and in the analysis of the data obtained.