Nya bud kring carried interest - En undersökning av beskattningen av carried interest och om Skatteverkets beslut från 2023 är förenliga med gällande rätt.
(2024) JURM02 20242Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Frågan om hur carried interest ska beskattas har länge varit föremål för både en debatt inom skatteområdet och upprepade prövningar i domstol. Grunden i denna problematik är huruvida den asymmetriska vinstutdelning som uppkommer i riskkapitalfonder, det vill säga carried interest, ska ses som en inkomst av investeringar och därmed beskattas enligt 3:12-reglerna, eller om den i stället ska betraktas som en ersättning för arbetsinsats och beskattas som lön i inkomstslaget tjänst. Carried interest är en ekonomisk ersättning som förvaltare och rådgivare får med anledning av sitt aktiva arbete för fonden, men konstruktionen uppvisar också drag av kapitalavkastning eftersom de skatteskyldiga investerar i fonden.
I december 2023 fattade... (More) - Frågan om hur carried interest ska beskattas har länge varit föremål för både en debatt inom skatteområdet och upprepade prövningar i domstol. Grunden i denna problematik är huruvida den asymmetriska vinstutdelning som uppkommer i riskkapitalfonder, det vill säga carried interest, ska ses som en inkomst av investeringar och därmed beskattas enligt 3:12-reglerna, eller om den i stället ska betraktas som en ersättning för arbetsinsats och beskattas som lön i inkomstslaget tjänst. Carried interest är en ekonomisk ersättning som förvaltare och rådgivare får med anledning av sitt aktiva arbete för fonden, men konstruktionen uppvisar också drag av kapitalavkastning eftersom de skatteskyldiga investerar i fonden.
I december 2023 fattade Skatteverket ett flertal beslut som aktualiserade frågan på nytt. Skatteverket ansåg att nya fondstrukturer motiverade att carried interest återigen skulle beskattas som lön i inkomstslaget tjänst. Besluten skiljer sig från den tidigare vedertagna ståndpunkten, där de flesta skatteskyldigas inkomster av carried interest beskattades enligt 3:12-reglerna. I uppsatsen undersöks vad som är gällande rätt vid beskattningen av carried interest och om Skatteverkets nya bedömning är förenlig med gällande rätt. För att göra detta analyseras, förutom de aktuella besluten, även hur begreppen verksam i betydande omfattning och samma eller likartad verksamhet tillämpas på carried interest enligt 3:12-reglerna.
I uppsatsen beskrivs även hur riskkapitalfonder är konstruerade och vilka aktörer som ingår i desamma, såsom General Partners, Limited Partnersship och rådgivningsbolag. En beskrivning ges även i denna del över hur inkomsterna av carried interest går genom strukturerna upp till den skatteskyldige. I en genomgång av tidigare domar från Högsta förvaltningsdomstolen och kammarrätterna framträder de principer och riktlinjer som hittills har varit vägledande för beskattning av carried interest. I analysen utreds gällande rätt utifrån de knäckfrågor som identifierats i kammarrättsdomarna. Analysen talar för att domstolarna i sin fortsatta prövning av målen kommer att fastslå att inkomsterna fortsatt kan beskattas enligt 3:12-reglerna trots att inkomsten av carried interest i grunden är en tjänsteinkomst. Vad gäller Skatteverket nya argumentation gällande verklig innebörd konstateras att detta inte bör påverka bedömningen av 3:12-reglernas tillämplighet.
I analysen ses även till Skatteverkets beslut och hur dessa samspelar med varandra. Besluten kritiseras för bristande stringens och nyansering sett till de tidigare underrättsdomarna och den praxis som föreligger på området. Besluten går även emot varandra i bedömningen av centrala frågor för beskattningen vilket skapar en oförutsägbarhet för de skatteskyldiga. Slutsatsen är att Skatteverkets beslut sannolikt inte kommer att vinna gehör i förvaltningsdomstolarna. Genom den kritiska granskningen av Skatteverkets argumentation och de nya fondstrukturerna belyser uppsatsen även behovet av mer förutsägbarhet inom skatterätten, så att den fortsatta rättsutvecklingen kan präglas av större klarhet och konsekvens. (Less) - Abstract
- The question of how carried interest should be taxed has long been the subject of both debate within the tax field and repeated court proceedings. The core of this issue is whether the asymmetric profit distribution that arises in private equity fund, carried interest, should be regarded as an income from capital gains and thus be taxed under the rules for close companies, or whether it should instead be treated as compensation for work performed and taxed as salary in the employment income category. Carried interest is a form of remuneration that fund managers and advisors receive due to their active involvement with the fund, but it also exhibits features of a capital gain because the taxpayers invest in the fund.
In December 2023,... (More) - The question of how carried interest should be taxed has long been the subject of both debate within the tax field and repeated court proceedings. The core of this issue is whether the asymmetric profit distribution that arises in private equity fund, carried interest, should be regarded as an income from capital gains and thus be taxed under the rules for close companies, or whether it should instead be treated as compensation for work performed and taxed as salary in the employment income category. Carried interest is a form of remuneration that fund managers and advisors receive due to their active involvement with the fund, but it also exhibits features of a capital gain because the taxpayers invest in the fund.
In December 2023, the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) issued several decisions that raised the issue once more. Skatteverket maintained that new fund structures justified taxing carried interest as salary in the employment income category. This position differs from the previously established stance, in which for most taxpayers’ carried interest was taxed according to the rules for close companies. The thesis examines the applicable law regarding the taxation of carried interest and whether Skatteverket’s new assessment is consistent with applicable law. In doing so, it not only analyses the decisions themselves but also how the concepts of active engagement to a significant extent (verksam i betydande omfattning) and the same or similar activity (samma eller likartad verksamhet) are applied to income of carried interest.
The thesis also describes how private equity funds are structured and identifies the parties involved such as General Partners, Limited Partnerships, and advisory companies. Additionally, it explains how carried interest flows through these structures up to the taxpayer. A review of earlier rulings by the Supreme Administrative Court and the courts of appeal reveals the principles and guidelines that have so far guided the taxation of carried interest. In the analysis, the existing law is examined considering the key issues identified in the courts of appeal rulings. The analysis suggests that the courts, in their continued handling of these cases, will likely uphold the view that income should continue to be taxed under the rules for closed companies, even though carried interest is fundamentally a form of employment income. Regarding Skatteverket’s new argumentation on the true nature (verklig innebörd) of transactions, the conclusion is that this should not affect the applicability of the rules for closed companies.
The analysis also examines how Skatteverket’s decisions interrelate and criticizes them for lacking consistency and nuance with respect to previous lower court rulings and existing case law. The thesis concludes that Skatteverket’s decisions are unlikely to be upheld by the administrative courts. Through its critical examination of Skatteverket’s line of reasoning and the new fund structures, the thesis also highlights the need for greater predictability in tax law, so that future legal developments will be characterized by greater clarity and consistency. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9179550
- author
- Nordlund, Erik LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- New Developments Regarding Carried Interest - A Review of the Taxation of Carried Interest and Whether the Swedish Tax Agency's 2023 Decisions Aligns With Applicable Law
- course
- JURM02 20242
- year
- 2024
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- skatterätt, carried interest, Skatteverket
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9179550
- date added to LUP
- 2025-01-24 11:18:58
- date last changed
- 2025-01-24 11:18:58
@misc{9179550,
abstract = {{The question of how carried interest should be taxed has long been the subject of both debate within the tax field and repeated court proceedings. The core of this issue is whether the asymmetric profit distribution that arises in private equity fund, carried interest, should be regarded as an income from capital gains and thus be taxed under the rules for close companies, or whether it should instead be treated as compensation for work performed and taxed as salary in the employment income category. Carried interest is a form of remuneration that fund managers and advisors receive due to their active involvement with the fund, but it also exhibits features of a capital gain because the taxpayers invest in the fund.
In December 2023, the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) issued several decisions that raised the issue once more. Skatteverket maintained that new fund structures justified taxing carried interest as salary in the employment income category. This position differs from the previously established stance, in which for most taxpayers’ carried interest was taxed according to the rules for close companies. The thesis examines the applicable law regarding the taxation of carried interest and whether Skatteverket’s new assessment is consistent with applicable law. In doing so, it not only analyses the decisions themselves but also how the concepts of active engagement to a significant extent (verksam i betydande omfattning) and the same or similar activity (samma eller likartad verksamhet) are applied to income of carried interest.
The thesis also describes how private equity funds are structured and identifies the parties involved such as General Partners, Limited Partnerships, and advisory companies. Additionally, it explains how carried interest flows through these structures up to the taxpayer. A review of earlier rulings by the Supreme Administrative Court and the courts of appeal reveals the principles and guidelines that have so far guided the taxation of carried interest. In the analysis, the existing law is examined considering the key issues identified in the courts of appeal rulings. The analysis suggests that the courts, in their continued handling of these cases, will likely uphold the view that income should continue to be taxed under the rules for closed companies, even though carried interest is fundamentally a form of employment income. Regarding Skatteverket’s new argumentation on the true nature (verklig innebörd) of transactions, the conclusion is that this should not affect the applicability of the rules for closed companies.
The analysis also examines how Skatteverket’s decisions interrelate and criticizes them for lacking consistency and nuance with respect to previous lower court rulings and existing case law. The thesis concludes that Skatteverket’s decisions are unlikely to be upheld by the administrative courts. Through its critical examination of Skatteverket’s line of reasoning and the new fund structures, the thesis also highlights the need for greater predictability in tax law, so that future legal developments will be characterized by greater clarity and consistency.}},
author = {{Nordlund, Erik}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Nya bud kring carried interest - En undersökning av beskattningen av carried interest och om Skatteverkets beslut från 2023 är förenliga med gällande rätt.}},
year = {{2024}},
}