MORE than 10 companies are under scrutiny for fraudulent activities, including understatements of documents for duty.
The investigation was confirmed by Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority chief executive officer Jitoko Tikolevu at the Fiji Economy Update 2012 in Suva yesterday.
Addressing the issue of tax reforms, Mr Tikolevu said there was no reason for some in the private sector to engage in illegal activities because of changes in taxation implemented by government.
"Everything has been reduced across the board. Duty, imports and even compensation for individuals. There is no purpose to engage in tax planning again. It's redundant," he said.
"I will not name them but these are current cases involving big and small companies. There is no purpose for them to engage in those activities.
"We have to be really aggressive with this and tell people they have to be compliant. The investigation is into people who are still trying to dodge tax legislations.
"We really want to send people to prison for this and that's even clear in our legislation for evading the law. Clearly there's no purpose for going the other way."
Meanwhile, Mr Tikolevu said progress on the proposed Income Tax Decree was positive.
"It's going to Cabinet this month because our target is to have it effective on January 1, 2013," he said.
"It will look at certain rules and regulations with consolidated subsidiaries all forged into one act. For example, if you're looking for incentives or concessions, you'll find these grouped together and arranged under one chapter so it basically is a more simplified legislation."
The proposed legislation will be a simplified version of the existing Income Tax Act introduced in 1974.