The Electronic Submission of Returns and the Detection of Tax Evasion

A perennial problem in fraud detection is the need to identify potential fraudsters. One recent area of interest has been the use of computers to combat fraud and identify potential fraudsters, for example Leinicke et al. and Daniele both described the application of ‘computer fraud auditing’ to a number of situations and highlighted examples where computers have played an important role in making detective activities cost effective. Doig and Graham examined measures taken by the Intervention Board using the database operated by EC Customs agencies to ensure that audit checks were concentrated in sectors of undertakings where the risk of fraud was especially high and Dixon noted that computers can assist in the flagging of potentially fraudulent claims through an automated search for various fraud indicators.