I just got the strangest letter today.
In a very cordial tone, my friendly neighbourhood
tax-authority has decided to inform me that my private expenses for the years 2001 and 2002 are unacceptable.
You heard me. unacceptable. And that’s their choice of words.
According to them, after paying my taxes I’ve had only 30.000 kroner
in 2001 and -30.000 kroner in 2002 left to spend (that’s about USD 5000), which, of course, is completely unacceptable.
Once again they confirm that being an impoverished slob is illegal in Denmark,
unless you don’t actually work, and hence get your money from the
government, in which case being poor is perfectly acceptable
behaviour.
The tax authorities have now charged me with not having enough money,
punishable, I believe, by being relieved of even more of my money, and
my task in that respect is to show up with shitloads of documentation
for every dime I spent since early 2001 (the first 3 months of which I
spent in Ghana as an impoverished volunteer).
They don’t seem to care that before 2001 I made pretty good money in the Internet business, that my line of business has been hit with a pretty amazing slump, or for that matter, that I happen to have grandparents who’ve helped provide me a living in the past 2 years.
I’ve been trying to start an NGO, working pretty hard because I believe in what I do, and have accepted from the get-go that this wasn’t likely to make me a wealthy individual. But I hadn’t really expected it to be unacceptable behaviour….
But there you are.
At first sight it seems really stupid, but there are benefits to this system as well.
Suppose the tax authorities decide that you spent at least 75.000 kr and make you pay taxes for that amount. But you actually had a huge illegal business, and actually made 1.000.000 kr. Wait 1 year for the state of limitations to kick in, and they’ll never be able to tax your 925.000 kr again.
People who fill out the big tax return (Udvidede selvangivelse) need to submit a form called Kapitalforklaring, which is basically an analysis of all your capital and how it changed during the year. That will give a much clearer figure for personal consumption — for example, your low residual might be have been caused by spending from savings.
Perhaps you just have a secret admirer at the tax-authority.. In which case your documentation will be extremely beneficial to the person building a shrine of you in his or her basement.