Minister of finance Bjarni Benediktsson has announced that he will propose a bill this autumn offering Icelanders, who have hid their taxable assets abroad, amnesty if they turn themselves over to authorities.
Tax evasion is a crime in Iceland and conviction may result in fines and imprisonment. However according to the bill tax fraudsters will not face time behind bars in exchange for paying their taxes, plus added penalties.
Earlier this year the Directorate of Tax Investigations (DTI) in Iceland bought a set of data holding information about close to 500 potential tax evaders.
Before the information was bought the director of the DTI, Bryndís Kristjánsdóttir and minister Bjarni had a public spat about if, and then how, the purchase should go through, with her claiming that restrictions set by the ministry tied the hands of her agency.
Bjarni’s apparent unwillingness to follow through provoked hard response from opposition leaders in the parliament, calling his criticism of the DTI indecent and reeking of nepotism, as the financial minister’s family is one of Iceland’s oldest business dynasties.
Read more: Financial minister Bjarni accused of nepotism
After Bjarni had categorically denied accusations of nepotism, while emphasizing that all tax evaders would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, money were be made available to buy the data set.
Now Bjarni has announced his plan which proposes an amnesty for tax fraudsters, citing precedents from other Nordic countries, Germany and the UK.
At the same time as he introduced the bill Bjarni said that he would he would not fight for its passage in parliament, due to the criticism of the idea when it was explored within his ministry earlier this year.
Minister of finance Bjarni Benediktsson has announced that he will propose a bill this autumn offering Icelanders, who have hid their taxable assets abroad, amnesty if they turn themselves over to authorities.
Tax evasion is a crime in Iceland and conviction may result in fines and imprisonment. However according to the bill tax fraudsters will not face time behind bars in exchange for paying their taxes, plus added penalties.
Earlier this year the Directorate of Tax Investigations (DTI) in Iceland bought a set of data holding information about close to 500 potential tax evaders.
Before the information was bought the director of the DTI, Bryndís Kristjánsdóttir and minister Bjarni had a public spat about if, and then how, the purchase should go through, with her claiming that restrictions set by the ministry tied the hands of her agency.
Bjarni’s apparent unwillingness to follow through provoked hard response from opposition leaders in the parliament, calling his criticism of the DTI indecent and reeking of nepotism, as the financial minister’s family is one of Iceland’s oldest business dynasties.
Read more: Financial minister Bjarni accused of nepotism
After Bjarni had categorically denied accusations of nepotism, while emphasizing that all tax evaders would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, money were be made available to buy the data set.
Now Bjarni has announced his plan which proposes an amnesty for tax fraudsters, citing precedents from other Nordic countries, Germany and the UK.
At the same time as he introduced the bill Bjarni said that he would he would not fight for its passage in parliament, due to the criticism of the idea when it was explored within his ministry earlier this year.
