news has revealed that the number of tax audits and the use of penalty tax has fallen in the Swedish Tax Agency in recent years. The number of extended checks has gone from around 15,000 in 2021 to 6,284 in 2023. The number of VAT checks has gone from 20,700 in 2012 to 6,317 in 2023. The tax authority has also “failed to assess penalty tax” for people, according to internal documents. Internal documents also show concern that the level of control in certain areas is “critically low”. – This is a predicted disaster, says Ivar Sømhovd, head of the Swedish Tax Agency’s National Association, to news. He says that the Swedish Tax Agency’s National Association has long urged politicians to prioritize the Tax Agency’s control level and resource situation. – It is incomprehensible that the politicians have not taken action. It is simple mathematics that more money for controls in the Tax Agency means more money for the treasury, he says. Over time, more resources for tax controls would lead to lower tax rates for most people, he says. Leader Ivar Sømhovd of the Swedish Tax Agency’s National Association is afraid that the level of control is so low that people lose their fear of being caught. Photo: Jens Christian Batt / National Association of Tax Authorities – We have tried to communicate this to political parties over the years, but we are getting nowhere. At the same time, the Tax Agency has received an extra 3 billion in grants over the past ten years. But with these funds, more tasks and employees have also come to the Swedish Tax Agency, including from the Customs and the former municipal tax collection offices. – Regardless of who we had as tax director in Norway, they would have had major challenges with the budget framework to solve the social mission in a good enough way both today and in the years to come, says Sømhovd. Disturbing development Sveinung Rotevatn (V) says he was not aware of the control situation at the Tax Agency. – This is primarily the finance minister’s responsibility, and this is also not information that the Storting was aware of before news’s disclosure, says Rotevatn, who sits on the finance committee on a daily basis with responsibility for, among other things, taxes and fees. Rotevatn points out that the precarious situation in the Tax Agency has not been reflected in the proposal in the government’s budgets. The development is “disturbing”, he believes. – Neither in the national budget for 2024 nor in the documents for the revised national budget that were presented a month ago, is there any information that the Tax Agency does not have sufficient resources to prioritize the necessary control activities. Sveinung Rotevatn (V) says it is good that the Tax Agency spends time and resources on user dialogue and guidance: – It is still the case that control activities should obviously have been given a higher priority. Photo: William Jobling / news Rather, the message from the Ministry of Finance is repeated that the control level must be sufficiently high, he points out. While more and more tasks have been added to the agency, large sums have been spent on IT investments at the expense of controls and compliance, says Rotevatn. – Firstly, it results in a large amount of lost tax revenue for the treasury, which in the extreme results in the tax level for ordinary citizens and businesses having to be increased. Secondly, it is in direct contradiction to what the government itself claims they are particularly concerned about: combating economic crime and workplace crime. Helge Orten (H) also believes that Vedum must open its eyes to the level of control and combating financial crime. – The tax authorities must prioritize preventing and cracking down on tax evasion. We must have effective controls and good compliance with the tax rules, Orten believes. – The Conservative Party expects the Minister of Finance to have clear answers to this, and that he can assure both the Storting and the citizens that the Norwegian Tax Agency controls correctly and sufficiently, says Helge Orten (H). Photo: Ksenia Novikova / news Like Rotevatn, he sits on the finance committee and is thus responsible for follow-up by the Ministry of Finance and the Swedish Tax Agency. He says the Conservative Party expects the finance minister to explain to the Storting what he has in mind. – The political responsibility lies with the Minister of Finance and the government. Vedum must be able to document that sufficient effective controls are carried out, which can both prevent and uncover financial crime, says Orten. Kari Elisabeth Kaski (SV) is also clear that Vedum should be on the ball about controls at the Tax Agency. – We expect Vedum to both clarify expectations about more control and the use of additional tax, and in addition to propose more money so that the Swedish Tax Agency can uncover this type of cheating when he comes up with a new proposal for the national budget. The Director of Taxation must increase the level of control. Director of Taxation Nina Schanke Funnemark writes that the priorities of the Tax Agency’s allocated funds are demanding, and that they are working to find the right balance in the use of control against other instruments in order to collect the correct tax. – It is work that is ongoing all the time, and we now want to increase our level of control, she writes. Nina Schanke Funnemark says that part of the decrease in the number of control cases is due to the Tax Agency having improved its analyses. Photo: Tor-Arne Vikingstad / news Funnemark believes that it is important that the crime has consequences, and that the Swedish Tax Agency could report many more cases. – But the police today dismiss half of our reports, often due to capacity. The tax authority imposes additional tax to a greater extent than we report, she writes. – Evading tax has consequences, but we want it to have consequences for even more people than what is the case today, she says. Reacting to the penalty tax: – A huge problem news wrote last week that the Tax Agency has “largely failed to assess” the penalty tax for people when errors and evasions are discovered. The number of cases where a penalty tax has been imposed has also halved since 2016. In 2023, a penalty tax was imposed in around 1,000 cases. In comparison, there are over 5 million taxpayers in Norway. Marie Sneve Martinussen describes it as a huge problem. – If there is to be equality before the law, it must be checked that it is followed, and those who break the law must be punished. Rødt has long called for more resources for the Tax Agency, and increased control activities, says Martinussen. Martinussen says that the Minister of Finance should make it clear to the Tax Agency that he expects increased control activities in the future. Director of Taxation Funnemark stated to news that the Swedish Tax Agency also has a responsibility to not unnecessarily control serious companies. – Limiting control activities so as not to “burden” business seems like a completely misunderstood attempt at business friendliness. The serious business world should have every interest in those who cheat being caught, says Martinussen. – Vedum should make it clear to the Tax Agency that he expects increased control activities going forward, says Marie Sneve Martinussen (R). Photo: Simon Skjelvik Brandseth / news – If the lack of control activity is due to a lack of resources or because it has been actively downgraded, then both parts are obviously completely meaningless, she says. Director of Taxes Nina Schanke Funnemark repeats the message that a high number of checks is not a goal in itself, but to check people and companies where the risk of evasion is greatest. – Control is resource-intensive and can be experienced as an interventionist tool, and it is important that the approach is risk-based so that we uncover crime and do not burden the serious part of the business unnecessarily, writes Funnemark. Trusts the Swedish Tax Agency Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum does not want to be interviewed by news. Instead, State Secretary Erlend Grimstad (Sp) answers. He points out that while the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party cut funding to the Tax Agency during their government period, they have increased the agency’s budgets in recent years. – I am confident that the Swedish Tax Agency is targeting efforts to stop tax crime that threatens our common values, and ensures that people and companies pay the tax they are due, Grimstad writes to news. State Secretary Erlen Grimstad (Sp) answers the questions addressed to the Minister of Finance. Photo: Senterpartiet He writes to news that the Swedish Tax Agency faces tough priorities in the coming years. – The Tax Agency’s work to ensure increased compliance, including a sufficient level of control, is something we have highlighted as an important challenge for the Tax Agency in recent years, says Grimstad. The Ministry of Finance is satisfied that the Norwegian Tax Agency will increase controls in the coming years. – The Ministry of Finance will also follow this in the management dialogue with the agency going forward, he writes. Norwegians believe they can have confidence in the Tax Agency The government believes the increased funding for development projects and digitization will lead to increased compliance. – Although this type of automated mechanical checks are not as visible to taxpayers as traditional checks, they provide a great effect in terms of better quality and more correct determination of the tax than before. He particularly highlights the new tax notices which contain so-called “dultings”, which are digital guidance forms that make it easier for taxpayers to do the right thing. – This is a type of individual guidance that leads to significant changes to the taxpayer’s advantage and disadvantage, and provides better compliance and more accurate revenue. The government does not agree that there is a need to scrutinize the Tax Agency’s use of resources, as Karine Ugland Virik, head of the Swedish Taxpayers’ Association, demanded last week. Grimstad defends that the Tax Agency in many cases does not choose to assess penalty tax when deviations are discovered. – Where the tax authorities receive a significant amount of new information from, for example, banks, it could be disproportionately resource-intensive to assess additional tax in each individual case. It is therefore assumed that, based on resource and capacity considerations, it can be omitted to assess additional tax in such cases, he writes. – Can Norwegians have confidence that people who evade tax experience a sufficient risk of being caught? – Yes, Norwegians can have confidence that people and companies pay the tax they should. Nevertheless, it is the case that there will always be someone who evades tax. The Minister of Finance has confidence that the Tax Agency works systematically to ensure that these are sanctioned, writes Grimstad. Tip us! We at news need good tips. You can also contact us on encrypted channels: Signal: +4745264614Protonmail: [email protected] / [email protected] can also send us input, tips and information encrypted and secure via news’s extra secure notification reception – see how you can use news’s Secure Drop here. Published 11.06.2024, at 05.20
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Demands an answer from the Minister of Finance about why the level of control in the Tax Agency has fallen – news Dokumentar
