Tax Committee Chair: “No Choice” But For Government To Buy Tax Evasion Evidence

The chairperson of parliament’s Tax and Economics Committee believes the Icelandic government should buy evidence of tax evasion, a sample of which has already been offered to authorities.

RÚV reports that Frosti Sigurjónsson, a Progressive MP and the chairperson of the Tax and Economics Committee, believes the government should pay to receive only legal documentation of Icelanders evading taxes. If the documents were illegally obtained, he added, this detail would certainly “complicate” matters.

“If it’s true what I’ve heard, that the Germans have gone this way, buying this kind of information, than I believe we have no choice but to seriously examine the information presented in this manner,” he told reporters. However, should the evidence turn out to be illegally obtained, he said, “That undoubtedly complicates matters.”

As reported, possibly hundreds of Icelanders have used tax shelters to avoid paying taxes in Iceland. Samples of evidence of tax evasion have already been handed to the Directorate of Internal Revenue (RSK) and the Ministry of Finance from an unnamed source. Most on the list have not appeard on RSK’s radar before, and the most common tax shelters appear to be in Luxembourg.

“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.”