Possibly Hundreds Of Icelanders Using Tax Shelters

Documents offered to the Directorate of Internal Revenue (RSK) could prove that hundreds of Icelanders are avoiding paying taxes through the use of shelters. The Ministry of Finance is considering purchasing the documents from the unnamed party offering them.

Fréttablaðið reports that RSK has only received samples of the documents in question, with the offer to purchase the complete copies. The party who offered the documents has not been named to the press, but is said to be based overseas.

“We’ve been looking at samples of the documents over the summer and fall,” Bryndís Kristjánsdóttir, RSK’s Director of Investigations, told reporters. “Now the ball’s in the Ministry’s court to decide whether or not to buy the documents.”

While Bryndís would not reveal much about the contents of the documents, she did say that many of the Icelanders listed have not been the subject of previous charges of tax evasion. In addition, most of those listed are using tax shelters in Luxembourg.

Buying such documents is not without precedent, Bryndís says. Germany has also bought such information in the past. What the next step will be in this particular case depends on whether or not the Ministry wants to buy the information.