We invite you to read the letter to the editor written by our Tax group director, Andrea Bobadilla, together with associate Valentina Herrera, on the Economic Crimes Law and its impact on companies.

MR. DIRECTOR:

With almost two months to go before the deadline for the new Economic Crimes Law to enter into force for companies, it is necessary to address some relevant points of this law.

It should be noted that 15 years have already passed since the criminal liability of legal persons was incorporated into our system (Law 20.393). However, this did not generate the expected impact, either because of the limited catalog of prosecutable crimes or because of the inexperience of our legal operators in pursuing the criminal liability of companies. This last point will be put to the test once again in September.

However, with the entry into force of the Economic Crimes Law, the scenario is totally different. Above all, the catalog of crimes has been expanded to include “tax crimes”, which entail direct consequences for the company. In this sense, owners and senior managers must raise the standards of supervision with the professionals who implement tax policies.

It should be noted that within this new and broad catalog, not only will be incorporated elaborated figures of tax frauds, but also conducts of easy execution, such as receiving benefits as “consideration for donations”, “falsifying the declaration of domicile authorization”, “omitting tax declarations” or “violating seals or locks”.

Letter written by:

Andrea Bobadilla | Director Tributario Group | abobadilla@az.cl

Valentina Herrera | Associate | vherrera@az.cl

Source: La Tercera newspaper, July 01. [See here].