While 99.7 percent of Danes accurately complete their tax self-assessments, more than half of all Danish companies don’t pay their tax correctly, according to the latest figures from the tax authority SKAT, DR reports.
Benny Engelbrecht, the tax minister, explains the disparity is the result of the differences in how income is reported in the case of companies and individuals.
“There aren’t the same automatic reporting options for companies as there are for wage earners,” he said.
Up to 89 percent of the data required for individuals’ self-assessment forms is generated automatically with information from the taxpayer’s bank and employer. This is not possible to the same extent in the case of companies, since data is needed from so many third parties.
Especially small companies
Engelbrecht wants to avoid an accusatory approach to dealing with the problem. “We shouldn’t necessarily be out pointing fingers at companies,” he said.
“Instead we should ensure that companies understand the rules correctly and can report the information.”
According to SKAT, it is small companies that have the most problems with correctly reporting their information to the authority. A new program called the easy company project (Nem Virksomhed-projekt) will soon be launched to assist such companies in matters such as tax reporting.