Some 1,979 people were sentenced for tax crimes last year, the press office of the Bulgarian National Revenue Agency (NRA) announced on Tuesday. That is a three-fold increase, compared to 2009 and up 56% from 2010, according to data from the annual report of the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The State Prosecution reported a considerable increase in the number of pre-trial proceedings on tax cases which were initiated and settled. Less than 3% of the defendants were acquitted regarding this type of crimes.

One of the chief reasons for the improved results is the increased activity of tax authorities in detecting tax crimes. Co-ordination centres, consisting of employees of NRA, the law enforcement authorities and the Prosecutor's Office, have been working in district towns for 4 years now. The main task of those units is to discuss jointly cases of tax crimes, collect evidence and exchange expert opinions on tax and criminal trials.