The Tax Agency has, over many years, reassessed and disputed with the country's richest venture capitalists. Now, the government has quietly set up an inquiry that should please the protesting billionaires.
According to Svenska Dagbladet, the assignment is clear – the directives cater to the venture capital industry and focus on achieving "taxation equivalent to that applicable to income from holding qualified shares in closely held companies".
The aim is to have predictable rules. For many, many years, they have not been, says Elisabeth Svantesson at a meeting with journalists in the Riksdag.
When asked if the purpose of the inquiry is to give venture capitalists lower taxes, she responds:
It should not be worse. The regulatory framework should be predictable, which it is not today.
The tax disputes concern whether the profit share made by venture capitalists should be taxed as labor income or capital gains.
Last spring, the Tax Agency reassessed 67 venture capitalists with 1.6 billion kronor.