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Swedish tax board attacks taxi tax dodge

Paul O'Mahony
Paul O'Mahony - [email protected]
Swedish tax board attacks taxi tax dodge

Loss of income stemming from tax evasion in the taxi industry amounts to 1.5-2 billion kronor per year, according to an investigation carried out by the National Tax Board.

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"Our examination has shown that drivers are cheating all over the country but it is most widespread in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö," said Håkan Asplund in a National Tax Board press release.

Asplund explains how taxi drivers circumvent the tax system.

"The most common form of cheating is for the taxi owner not to put receipts registered in the meter in the books. Cheating is more widespread when it comes to cash payments than it is for card payments or when a journey is billed."

"This means that to an extent cash payments go straight into the taxi owner's or driver's pocket within making it into the books."

It is also common for drivers to give out a receipt from the card reader but not the meter.

"The sum is then not registered in the meter will not be entered into the books," said Asplund.

But all is not bleak on the taxi front.

"No, it was pleasing to see that the vast majority of drivers do the right thing. Of the 250 drivers who came under scrutiny in the Mälardalen region more than 90 per cent of drivers showed an income that corresponded to the meter," said Asplund.

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