Swedish PM underpaid rent
Swedish prime minister Göran Persson has been paying 7,000 kronor per month less than he should have been for his private apartment in the Sager House (Sagerska huset). The monthly payment was reduced by a Government Offices official who knocked 130 square metres off his valuation, reported TV4.
The Sager House is the prime minister's official residence in the centre of Stockholm. The 1200 square metre property includes a dining hall and reception rooms.
Göran Persson's private part of the building is on two upper floors and covers 305 square metres.
According to TV4's Nyheterna, the civil servant's calculation of the payment due from the prime minister broke tax regulations. Government Offices ought to have applied for a payroll tax adjustment based on the value of the property, and now the Swedish Tax Board is to investigate the case.
The Government Offices legal chief admitted to Nyheterna that there had been a mistake in the valuation.
However, Göran Persson's press officer Anna Helsén told TT that Nyheterna was wrong to claim that the prime minister's rent had been reduced.
"When Göran Persson moved into the Sager House last year, Government Offices estimated the tax assessment value of the residence," she said.
"The civil servants considered that Persson should pay a fair price for a comparable normal home. The area was calculated as 175 square metres."
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The Sager House is the prime minister's official residence in the centre of Stockholm. The 1200 square metre property includes a dining hall and reception rooms.
Göran Persson's private part of the building is on two upper floors and covers 305 square metres.
According to TV4's Nyheterna, the civil servant's calculation of the payment due from the prime minister broke tax regulations. Government Offices ought to have applied for a payroll tax adjustment based on the value of the property, and now the Swedish Tax Board is to investigate the case.
The Government Offices legal chief admitted to Nyheterna that there had been a mistake in the valuation.
However, Göran Persson's press officer Anna Helsén told TT that Nyheterna was wrong to claim that the prime minister's rent had been reduced.
"When Göran Persson moved into the Sager House last year, Government Offices estimated the tax assessment value of the residence," she said.
"The civil servants considered that Persson should pay a fair price for a comparable normal home. The area was calculated as 175 square metres."
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