Sweden Demands $90M in Advanced Taxes from Crypto Miners

Swedish crypto miners owe more than $90 million in taxes after a government investigation found four years of misappropriation.

Sweden's tax agency – Skateverket – investigated the operations of 21 crypto-mining companies between 2020 and 2023. The investigation found that 18 crypto-mining companies filed “incorrect or incomplete” information in order to benefit from tax incentives.

According to the agency, some crypto companies made misleading business statements to avoid paying value added tax (VAT) on taxable activities. Others have found ways to avoid paying import taxes on mining equipment or income taxes on mining earnings.

A draft version of the Swedish Tax Agency's statement reads:

“The described approach will result in the elimination of input VAT, unpaid value added tax and unreported payments of crypto assets from domestic taxes.”

Crypto mining companies are required to pay a total of more than 990 million Swedish krona ($90 million) to tax authorities. This includes an unpaid total of 932 million krona ($85.4 million) and about 57.9 million krona ($5.3 million) in tax surcharges.

While crypto-mining companies appealed the $90 million request from the Swedish Tax Agency, the Administrative Court upheld the appeals of two mining firms and rejected the rest. “The above amounts have been adjusted with respect to the judgments.”

Related: Renewable energy Bitcoin mining company power in Sweden

In the year In November 2023, crypto mining company Hive Digital Technologies acquired a commercial property and data center in Boden, Sweden. Johanna Tornblad, President of Sweden's Hive at the time, said:

“The new data center will enable HIV to grow its regional footprint, demonstrating its commitment to ESG focus, sustainable practices, environmental responsibility and energy efficiency through its new “green” energy-powered data center.

The company has confirmed that the asset will house the upcoming ASIC servers and boost Bitcoin (BTC) production.

Hive owns and operates data center facilities in Canada, Sweden and Iceland, and promotes the use of green energy for cloud-based digital assets such as Bitcoin.

Magazine: Bitcoin Halving Raises Games, Shrapnel's ‘Easy' Secret Revealed: Web3 Gamer