Oslo tax office reveals cheats in 8 out of 10 checks

Money fixed interestNorwegian bank notes, Photo: Norway Today Media

Oslo tax auditors have scored highly over the past five years, where their inspectors have uncovered fraud of more than NOK 1.5 billion, writes Dagsavisen.

Since 2014, the office, which is the country’s largest tax collector, has carried out 2,171 checks. In 8 out of 10 checks , fraud was revealed, the newspaper writes.

These mis-declarations are mainly concerning employers who try to circumvent employer’s tax bill by failing to report their employees’ earnings. This often happens in connection with ‘ black work’ , primarily in the construction and restaurant industry, cleaning and transportation.

Director of the division at the Oslo Tax office, Atle Myklebust , believes that more inspections would uncover more cheating, but that the office must decide how they want to use their resources.

  • The repercussions of these inspections are, in any case, much greater than the amounts we require paid in arrears. It turns out that many people start to report things they have not previously reported and they continue to do so, says Myklebust.

On Wednesday, the Skills Union and the Norwegian Service Organisation will arrange a conference on the ‘ Black Economy’ in Oslo.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today