The development of globalization and advances in information technology have led to an increase in transnational tax crimes, particularly through the transfer and concealment of assets derived from crime abroad. This situation creates difficulties for Indonesian law enforcement officials in confiscating assets to recover state losses. Therefore, international cooperation through the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) mechanism is needed. This study aims to analyze the legal provisions of MLA in the Indonesian legal system that can be applied to the confiscation of assets of perpetrators of tax crimes abroad and examine the challenges and obstacles faced in its implementation. This study uses a normative legal research method with a statutory, conceptual, and literature study approach analyzed qualitatively. The results show that the application of MLA has an adequate legal basis through Law Number 1 of 2006 concerning Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and Law Number 15 of 2008 concerning the Ratification of the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters. Through this mechanism, Indonesia can track, freeze, confiscate, and confiscate assets abroad. However, its implementation still faces various obstacles, including differences in legal systems between countries, the principle of state sovereignty, banking secrecy, lengthy bureaucratic processes, limited coordination between institutions, and the complexity of the modus operandi of cross-border tax crimes.
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