(Australian Associated Press)

Australia is part of a new international tax body that targets those who help people hide their income and evade tax.

The group called the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement or J5 includes the US, Britain, the Netherlands and Canada.

“The focus is to track down the internationally located enablers of that tax crime, even when they’re sitting offshore,” ATO deputy commissioner Will Day told The Australian.

“Bringing together the five countries is a large part of that, and we’ve made significant progress in identifying operational targets, utilising the improved partnerships.”

Among the areas to be covered by the agency are cyber-related identity theft, tax evasion using cryptocurrencies, corporate “phoenixing” and international tax evasion using tax havens.