A second office of the Joint International Tax Shelter Information Centre will be opened in London in the autumn of this year. This is a key part of a wider strategic development plan to accelerate the scope and effectiveness of the centre. JITSIC coordinates efforts by national revenue authorities to track down perceived tax international abuses. The centre is a venture established by the commissioners of the Australian, Canadian, UK and US tax administrations. Additionally, Japan has accepted an invitation to join JITSIC, and a representative of its National Tax Agency will be present at the London centre. The commissioners believe that information exchange in real-time is making a significant difference to their task of tracking perceived tax avoidance and "abusive cross-border transactions". JITSIC is focusing its attention on what it describes as "highly artificial arrangements", such as: • A cross-border scheme was marketed, involving hundreds of taxpayers and tens of millions of dollars in improper deductions and unreported income from retirement account withdrawals. • Highly structured financing transactions created by financial institutions in which taxpayers generated inappropriate foreign tax credit benefits • Brokers provided made-to-order losses on futures and options transactions for individuals in other JITSIC jurisdictions, leading to a forecast tax loss of more than $100,000,000. The commissioners announced further plans for the development of JITSIC, along with its measured expansion to cover North America, Europe and Asia. Its objective is to broaden the focus of its activities, further sharing best practices on risk assessment and other key areas of interest, and particularly increasing the transparency of cross-border transactions in order to create a level playing field for taxpayers who are voluntarily compliant. JITSIC was established in 2004 by the tax administrations of Australia, Canada, the UK and the US. It was created to support ongoing work of the Australian Taxation Office, the Canada Revenue Agency, Revenue & Customs and the Internal Revenue Service in identifying and curbing perceived tax avoidance and shelters and those who promote them and invest in them.