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Tillämpningen av skatteflyktslagen - En kritisk analys av skatteflyktslagens problematiska generalklausul

Andersson, Anton LU (2024) LAGF03 20241
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
Tax evasion has long been a contentious issue in public debate. In order to prevent undesirable tax practices, a general law against tax evasion was introduced in 1981, which was later repealed due to criticism that it was legally uncertain. However, the law was reinstated in 1995 through the Tax Evasion Act (1995:575), as the incumbent government did not share the same view of the criticism directed at the law. Since then, the existence of the law has continued to be controversial and is questioned from time to time in various context.
The second paragraph of the law is a general clause and becomes applicable when all the necessary conditions are fulfilled. The criticism is based, among other things, on its ambiguity regarding... (More)
Tax evasion has long been a contentious issue in public debate. In order to prevent undesirable tax practices, a general law against tax evasion was introduced in 1981, which was later repealed due to criticism that it was legally uncertain. However, the law was reinstated in 1995 through the Tax Evasion Act (1995:575), as the incumbent government did not share the same view of the criticism directed at the law. Since then, the existence of the law has continued to be controversial and is questioned from time to time in various context.
The second paragraph of the law is a general clause and becomes applicable when all the necessary conditions are fulfilled. The criticism is based, among other things, on its ambiguity regarding interpretation and application, and it is primarily the fourth point of the provision that in practice becomes the most difficult to determine. The fourth point states that the procedure must contravene the purpose of the legislation as it appears from the general design of the tax provisions and the provisions that are directly applicable or have been circumvented by the procedure. Neither the legislator nor the Supreme Administrative Court has clarified the precise meaning of what this entails. Additionally, there is disagreement within the doctrine. The purpose of the thesis is therefore to analyze when the law is applicable by mapping how the necessary condition should be interpreted and determined according to various legal sources.
The thesis shows that the first three points of the general clause are largely uncomplicated to determine. This is followed by an account of the fourth point. The provision is designed based on the premise that the wording of the law should primarily be decisive in the assessment. There is then disagreement on how the assessment should be made if ambiguities still remain after reviewing the legal provision. In the literature, many authors have attempted to determine how the necessary condition should be assessed, without gaining significant impact. Finally, an analysis of the development of the Tax Evasion Act up to today and how the necessary conditions of the provision should be determined is provided. The conclusion of the work is that a decision from the Supreme Administrative Court is necessary, where the court clearly indicates how the fourth point of the general clause should be interpreted and applied. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Skatteflykt har under en lång period varit ett omdiskuterat ämne i den allmänna debatten. I syfte att förhindra det oönskade skatteförfarandet infördes 1981 en generell lag mot skatteflykt, som senare upphävdes. Detta på grund av att den kritiserats för att vara rättsosäker. Lagen återinfördes dock 1995 genom lag (1995:575) mot skatteflykt då den sittande regeringen inte delade samma bild av den kritik som riktats mot lagen. Sedan dess har lagens existens fortsatt vara kontroversiell och ifrågasätts från tid till annan i olika sammanhang.
Lagens andra paragraf är en generalklausul och blir tillämplig när samtliga rekvisit är uppfyllda. Kritiken grundar sig bland annat i dess oklarhet avseende tolkning och tillämpning och det är främst... (More)
Skatteflykt har under en lång period varit ett omdiskuterat ämne i den allmänna debatten. I syfte att förhindra det oönskade skatteförfarandet infördes 1981 en generell lag mot skatteflykt, som senare upphävdes. Detta på grund av att den kritiserats för att vara rättsosäker. Lagen återinfördes dock 1995 genom lag (1995:575) mot skatteflykt då den sittande regeringen inte delade samma bild av den kritik som riktats mot lagen. Sedan dess har lagens existens fortsatt vara kontroversiell och ifrågasätts från tid till annan i olika sammanhang.
Lagens andra paragraf är en generalklausul och blir tillämplig när samtliga rekvisit är uppfyllda. Kritiken grundar sig bland annat i dess oklarhet avseende tolkning och tillämpning och det är främst bestämmelsens fjärde punkt som i praktiken blir svårast att fastställa. Den fjärde punkten anger att förfarandet ska strida mot lagstiftningens syfte som det framgår av skattebestämmelsernas allmänna utformning och de bestämmelser som är direkt tillämpliga eller har kringgåtts genom förfarandet. Varken lagstiftaren eller HFD har klarlagt den närmare innebörden av vad detta innebär. Det råder dessutom oenighet inom doktrin. Syftet med uppsatsen är därför att analysera när lagen är tillämplig genom att kartlägga hur rekvisitet ska tolkas och fastställas enligt olika rättskällor.
Uppsatsen visar att de tre första punkterna i generalklausulen i stor mån är relativt okomplicerade att fastställa. Därefter följer en redogörelse för den fjärde punkten. Bestämmelsen är utformad utifrån att det först och främst är lagens ordalydelse som ska vara avgörande vid bedömningen. Det råder därefter oenighet om hur bedömningen ska göras om oklarheter fortfarande kvarstår efter granskning av lagbestämmelsen. Inom litteraturen har många författare försökt fastställa hur rekvisitet ska bedömas, utan att nå framgång. Avslutningsvis följer en analys av skatteflyktslagens framväxt fram till idag och hur rekvisiten i bestämmelsen ska fastställas. Slutsatsen av arbetet är att det är nödvändigt med ett avgörande från HFD där domstolen tydligt anger hur den fjärde punkten i generalklausulen ska tolkas och tillämpas. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Andersson, Anton LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20241
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Skatterätt, skatteflykt, skatteflyktslagen, generalklausul
language
Swedish
id
9152248
date added to LUP
2024-06-26 11:34:30
date last changed
2024-06-26 11:34:30
@misc{9152248,
  abstract     = {{Tax evasion has long been a contentious issue in public debate. In order to prevent undesirable tax practices, a general law against tax evasion was introduced in 1981, which was later repealed due to criticism that it was legally uncertain. However, the law was reinstated in 1995 through the Tax Evasion Act (1995:575), as the incumbent government did not share the same view of the criticism directed at the law. Since then, the existence of the law has continued to be controversial and is questioned from time to time in various context.
The second paragraph of the law is a general clause and becomes applicable when all the necessary conditions are fulfilled. The criticism is based, among other things, on its ambiguity regarding interpretation and application, and it is primarily the fourth point of the provision that in practice becomes the most difficult to determine. The fourth point states that the procedure must contravene the purpose of the legislation as it appears from the general design of the tax provisions and the provisions that are directly applicable or have been circumvented by the procedure. Neither the legislator nor the Supreme Administrative Court has clarified the precise meaning of what this entails. Additionally, there is disagreement within the doctrine. The purpose of the thesis is therefore to analyze when the law is applicable by mapping how the necessary condition should be interpreted and determined according to various legal sources.
The thesis shows that the first three points of the general clause are largely uncomplicated to determine. This is followed by an account of the fourth point. The provision is designed based on the premise that the wording of the law should primarily be decisive in the assessment. There is then disagreement on how the assessment should be made if ambiguities still remain after reviewing the legal provision. In the literature, many authors have attempted to determine how the necessary condition should be assessed, without gaining significant impact. Finally, an analysis of the development of the Tax Evasion Act up to today and how the necessary conditions of the provision should be determined is provided. The conclusion of the work is that a decision from the Supreme Administrative Court is necessary, where the court clearly indicates how the fourth point of the general clause should be interpreted and applied.}},
  author       = {{Andersson, Anton}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Tillämpningen av skatteflyktslagen - En kritisk analys av skatteflyktslagens problematiska generalklausul}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}