Knew about Dubai owners – didn’t ask for tax info for years – E24
For several years, the Norwegian Tax Agency has known that Norwegians are registered with valuable properties in Dubai, without reporting it in the tax return. Previously secret figures show that the Tax Agency has withheld information from the Emirates that could reveal them.
Only 12 times in the last six years, and never in 2021 and 2022, has the Tax Authority requested information from the United Arab Emirates about the values and income Norwegian taxpayers have in the country.
It appears in a answer to the Storting from Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp), on a question from SV’s Cato Brunvand Ellingsen.
Ellingsen’s question came after E24 revealed in autumn how people who have been charged, indicted, convicted or wanted for criminal matters in Norway are registered with property worth over NOK 180 million in Dubai, according to a leak of property data from the beginning of 2020.
Dubai is a popular holiday destination in the United Arab Emirates, but also a well-known destination for illegal money flows.
In May 2022, E24 revealed that only a small number of 214 Norwegian taxpayers who were registered with property in Dubai in the leak, listed the property on the tax return to the Norwegian authorities.
Both property and income abroad are taxable in Norway.
Known for several years
That Norwegians are listed as having far more properties in Dubai than is reported to the authorities is well known in the Swedish Tax Agency.
In January 2019 it was revealed that over 70 Norwegians were registered with property in the emirate, while only a small number reported to the Norwegian tax authorities in line with the law.
The then tax director Hans Christian Holte announced that they would work to find assets abroad and told Dagbladet that “it is much better that they come to us, than that we find them, for their own sake”.
The Finance Minister’s recent reply to the Storting shows that that year the Tax Agency sent only five requests for assistance to obtain information on assets and income in the Emirates. The following year, the number of requests dropped. Then to zero.
– Why hasn’t the Swedish Tax Agency asked for information from the emirates more often?
– Due to the confidentiality obligation, we cannot comment on the cooperation with individual countries. According to the agreements, the Swedish Tax Agency is obliged to utilize all internal sources before requesting information from abroad, writes Erik Nilsen, director of tax crime at the Swedish Tax Agency, in an e-mail to E24.
No request in 2022
In connection with the investigations into the Dubai leak, in the spring of 2022 E24 sent an access request to the Swedish Tax Agency, in which E24 asked for a clarification of tax liability for over 270 people.
After the first disclosure in May, E24 has, among other things, written about several named listed owners with criminal backgrounds. The tax lists show that several of them have reported very low taxable income and assets for a number of years.
The overview Vedum presented to the Storting on 19 December shows that no requests for assistance were sent to obtain information about Norwegian taxpayers’ income and assets in the Emirates in 2022.
Have refused access to the figures
To agree that the Tax Agency can be local authorities in the Emirates send over income about Norwegian taxpayers’ premises and assets in the country, to ensure that they pay the right tax to Norway.
– In many cases, the issues are clarified using other sources and in dialogue with
the taxable persons. The agreements are used in those cases where we find this
necessary to clarify the matter/fact”, writes head of tax crime Erik Nilsen in an e-mail.
The tax authorities have previously refused to tell E24 how many times they have requested information through the agreements with the Emirates, citing that it could damage Norway’s foreign policy interests.
“The Directorate of Taxation has refused E24’s request for access to
according to current practice in such cases. We have no comment
to the Minister of Finance’s reply to the Storting, writes Lene Marie Ringså, head of section at the Swedish Tax Agency, in an e-mail.
SV: – Strange
E24 has asked the Norwegian Tax Agency for an overview of how many times the Emirates have actually provided the information requested. Tax crime chief Erik Nilsen says that due to confidentiality obligations, they cannot comment on cooperation with individual countries.
E24 has asked the Ministry of Finance for the same information. The request for access is being processed.
Cato Brunvand Ellingsen in SV says that he believes the information belongs in the public domain.
– I can’t see that there is any strong reason not to release that type of information. It will not provide information about individuals, or individual citizens’ tax situation, so I think it is a bit strange, says Ellingsen.
– Makes no sense
– You would have thought that the Swedish Tax Agency, in line with the fact that there have been leaks such as the Panama Papers and Dubai Uncovered, and well-documented disclosures in full public view, would make an extra effort, says general manager Sigrid Klæboe Jacobsen of Tax Justice Norway to E24.
The organization works for more transparency about capital flows around the world.
– The information from the Minister of Finance shows that in the case of requests for aid from the Emirates, little is used, and in fact less and less is used. At the same time, there is an increase in leaks and known information about assets in closed tax havens. This makes no sense, says Klæbo.
– The tax authorities must now answer whether the agreements with the Emirates work as intended and what kind of information they actually receive. If it turns out that the agreements do not work, then there must be a clear response at a political level from the Norwegian authorities, says Klæbo.
The tax authorities will step up in 2023
In the reply to the Storting, Vedum writes that the tax authorities can only be concerned with information relating to an “ongoing tax case”.
“The government works actively for increased transparency and administrative cooperation across national borders. International cooperation is important to ensure that the tax authorities have the necessary tools to determine the correct tax and enforce national tax legislation,” writes Vedum in the response.
Erik Nilsen, head of tax crime at the Swedish Tax Agency, recently confirmed that their work on hidden income and assets abroad will step up in 2023. He also said that they have launched their own investigations following the Dubai revelations.
– It is too early for us to be able to say anything more about how many cases will possibly be opened in the wake of the leak, or to comment on estimates of asset values and any income that has not been reported to the Norwegian authorities, said Nilsen.
E24 has several times in the past year about an interview with Emirati authorities about the leak.
In a statement from the government in Dubai, sent via the Emirates embassy in Oslo in spring 2022, they write:
“The claims made about ownership of property in Dubai are factually inaccurate. The United Arab Emirates has a clear regulatory framework, in line with international standards and legislation to combat financial crime,” and continues:
“Dubai Land Ministry (the public body responsible for the real estate sector in Dubai journ.amn.) with its activities and processes, is a cornerstone of this work”.
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