Taxation in Paradise

Five years ago, Mr. Kaj Bornebusch, of the southern Swedish city of Halsingborg, was charged with tax fraud. The case was tried before the local tax board, and Mr. Bornebusch was found guilty and forced to pay back taxes of 250,000 Kronor ($55,-000). Bornebusch appealed to a tax court, but in the meantime the authorities moved in on his property. When his home was sold at forced auction, the tax authorities recovered their claimed 250,000 Kr. The market value of his house, however, had been estimated at 600,000 Kr or over $130,000. When Bornebusch was acquitted of the charges in tax court two years later he was entitled to get back his 250,000 Kr. with 6 per cent interest. But there was no legal compensation for the difference between what his house had been sold for and what it was actually worth. Bornebusch now lives in Spain, where the number of Swedish tax refugees is estimated to be several times the number of Spanish political refugees in Sweden.

In Sweden today, 50.5. per cent of the gross national product is taken up by Social Security and other taxes; another 9.6 per cent goes into the public coffers in the form of customs duties, fees on public services, and interest on government assets. The total is expected to go to 69.8 per cent by 1980.

CH

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Carl G. Holm

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Five years ago, Mr. Kaj Bornebusch, of the southern Swedish city of Halsingborg, was charged with tax fraud. The case was tried before the local tax board, and Mr. Bornebusch was found guilty and forced to pay back taxes of 250,000 Kronor ($55,-000). Bornebusch appealed to a tax court, but in the meantime the authorities moved in on his property. When his home was sold at forced auction, the tax authorities recovered their claimed 250,000 Kr. The market value of his house, however, had been estimated at 600,000 Kr or over $130,000. When Bornebusch was acquitted of the charges in tax court two years later he was entitled to get back his 250,000 Kr. with 6 per cent interest. But there was no legal compensation for the difference between what his house had been sold for and what it was actually worth. Bornebusch now lives in Spain, where the number of Swedish tax refugees is estimated to be several times the number of Spanish political refugees in Sweden.

In Sweden today, 50.5. per cent of the gross national product is taken up by Social Security and other taxes; another 9.6 per cent goes into the public coffers in the form of customs duties, fees on public services, and interest on government assets. The total is expected to go to 69.8 per cent by 1980.