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Swedish Tax Agency: Increasing errors in the return – almost everyone has made mistakes

This concerns large profits amounting to billions that are not subject to tax.

“Many Swedes”

Until 2013, their number was only about 100 people per year. Since then, development has continued at an amazing speed.

About 8,000 people in eight years have now announced cryptocurrency sales.

In total, declared sales amounts increased from SEK 36 million in 2013 to SEK 19 billion in 2021. Total declared profits at the same time increased from SEK 10 million to SEK 2.7 billion during the same period.

Many Swedes made significant profits on cryptocurrencies during the same period, but few taxed the gains, the Swedish Tax Agency says in a new report.

90 percent make mistakes

The increased tax error is huge in its own context. Just over 90 percent were judged to be making mistakes, which amounts to SEK 1.5 billion.

– Declared sales of crypto assets make up about a tenth of total estimated sales, says Lina Andersson, an analyst and report author at the Swedish Tax Agency, in a commentary.

Only 5 percent declare this at all

And those who make the most profits are the ones who fail most to advertise properly. According to the Swedish Tax Authority, people with the highest turnover amounts of 10% account for nearly three-quarters of the tax error, while people with the highest turnover amounts of 50% account for a “tiny” portion of the error.

The number of people reporting cryptocurrency sales increased until 2021, but still only 5 percent of Swedes who sold cryptocurrencies declared their sales, says Anna Olofsson, a cryptocurrency tax specialist at the Swedish Tax Agency.

Important for the Swedish Tax Agency

Although it is still a relatively small collection, the new information is of very high value to the Swedish Tax Agency.

Until now, the Authority has had limited knowledge of the extent of tax errors associated with the reporting of cryptocurrencies.

– It is also interesting for tax authorities in other countries, as the analysis unit of the Swedish Tax Agency is one of the first to evaluate the tax error resulting from trading in cryptocurrencies, and thus the report can be used as a basis for assessments by other tax authorities, says Lena. Andersson, an analyst at the Swedish Tax Agency.

picture: Tax Agency Magnus D

Text: Editors