After years of tax infractions were discovered by official investigations, Swedish crypto miners now face a huge tax bill of over $90 million.
From 2020 to 2023, 21 cryptocurrency mining enterprises underwent a thorough examination by Skatteverket, the Swedish Tax Agency. 18 of these companies had provided false or insufficient information in order to benefit from tax benefits, according to their findings.
The agency revealed that several mining companies used false company descriptions in order to avoid having to pay value-added tax (VAT) on operations that were subject to taxation. Some came up with strategies to avoid paying income taxes on mining profits or import charges on mining equipment.
In a statement, the Swedish Tax Agency expressed concerns about the repercussions of these actions, emphasizing that such practices result in significant tax losses for the country.
The tax authorities have mandated that the cryptocurrency mining companies pay out more than 990 million Swedish krona, or around $90 million. This includes tax penalties of around 57.9 million krona ($5.3 million) and outstanding VAT totaling 932 million krona ($85.4 million).
Some mining businesses have disputed the amount levied by the Swedish Tax Agency, notwithstanding the substantial tax demand. Only two mining companies’ challenges were, nonetheless, upheld by the administrative court, which changed the assessed amounts in accordance with the decisions of the courts.