In March new draft legislation was placed before the Andorran parliament, the General Council that would introduce a change to the Andorran Criminal Code, with effect as early as September 2017.
The draft legislation proposes two offences. Lesser tax crimes for the evasion of tax of at least €50,000 a year and serious tax crime for the evasion of tax of more than €150,000 a year or tax evasion that has been conducted by criminal organisations.
On conviction for the lesser offence an individual can be subject to imprisonment from three months to three years and a fine of up to four times the tax owed and evaded. Conviction for the more serious offence is imprisonment for a minimum of one to five years and those convicted will be subject to a fine of up to four times the tax owed. As a serious criminal offence, tax evasion can be considered as a part of the offence of money laundering.
It is expect the Andorran parliament will debate the draft law shortly and we will report again on the progress of the law in forthcoming news bulletins.