Economic crime report 2004 - Ekobrottsmyndigheten

ied out indicate that most transactions are either for self-gain (i.e., the
payer and payee are one and the same) or for the benefit of someone other
than the payer, such as a consultant, athlete or artist. SKV has charted
and described a number of such methods as part of various monitoring
projects.
Opportunity Structure
Tax havens have been around for a long time. Prior to the deregulations of
the 1990s, they were very expensive and unwieldy. Since that time, they
have become much cheaper and simpler to use, while many sources of
advice and offers are now available on the subject. The projects discussed
above indicate that the utilization of tax havens is on the rise, particularly
among small, profitable businesses. In recent years, most transactions have
been conducted through facade companies in less conspicuous countries
like Britain and the Netherlands.
Monitoring and Supervision
An effective supervisory method developed by SKV takes advantage of
data that the Swedish Central Bank receives about payments to and from
abroad, as well as information sharing with Britain and other countries.
But it is difficult to reliably estimate the ratio of unreported to reported
cases. Efforts through the tax courts have proven successful. The proceedings
are often based on reviews and chains of circumstantial evidence.
Since more aggressive litigation was introduced in recent years, the courts
have largely gone along with the arguments of SKV. SKV’s most recent
supervisory initiative has proceeded from the gathering of information on
the holders of foreign credit cards used in Sweden.
Scope
Tax havens are nothing new, and their number has grown steadily. The
biggest increase has occurred following deregulations in the foreign
exchange and financial markets during the 1990s. Tax havens house an
estimated 1.2% of the world’s population and 25% of its financial assets.
A significant percentage of those assets appear to represent income from
non-tax offences.
Sweden estimates annual uncollected tax revenues linked to international
transactions at SEK 20-35 billion, of which SEK 2-5 billion stems from
company formation through tax havens and SEK 8 billion primarily from
investments by private individuals in low-tax countries with insufficient
supervision.
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