The Director General of the Tax Department (DGII) has announced a renewed effort to catch those who avoid paying taxes, particularly the VAT (value-added tax) which is now 16% on 80% of all goods and services in the Dominican Republic. According to Hoy, the director general says that many establishments are charging the VAT but not reporting it to the local Internal Revenue offices. Juan Hernandez Batista, the head of the DGII, said that all of their efforts will be directed at VAT evasion, which he considers to be very widespread. Hernandez said that with the increase in the VAT, there will come a greater propensity of tax dodgers. To combat this process, the director general said his people would start using cross references to reduce what is calculated to be a 30% evasion rate.