From 2020 to 2023, the Swedish Tax Agency discovered several cryptocurrency companies that had provided false business descriptions in an effort to evade taxation.
After four years of misappropriations were uncovered through government investigations, Swedish cryptocurrency miners owe more than $90 million in taxes.
Skatteverket, the Swedish tax agency, inquired into the activities of twenty-one cryptocurrency mining companies from 2020 to 2023. In pursuit of tax incentives, 18 cryptocurrency mining companies allegedly submitted “misleading or incomplete” information, according to the investigation.
According to the agency, some cryptocurrency companies provided deceptive business descriptions to evade paying Value-Added Taxes (VAT) on taxable operations. Others discovered methods to evade mining revenue and import taxes on mining equipment and income, respectively.
An approximate translation of the statement issued by the Swedish Tax Agency read:
The described approach leads to tax disappearing from the country in the form of incorrect payments of input VAT, unpaid output VAT and unreported crypto assets.
The tax authorities require the delinquent cryptocurrency mining companies to pay over 990 million Swedish krona (SEK) ($90 million). This includes approximately 57.9 million SEK ($5.3 million) in tax surcharges and 932 million SEK ($85.4 million) in outstanding total VAT.
The crypto mining companies filed appeals against the Swedish Tax Agency’s $90 million demand; the administrative court approved the appeals of two mining companies but denied the remaining ones. “The figures mentioned earlier have been modified in light of the verdicts.”
Hive Digital Technologies, a cryptocurrency mining company, acquired a commercial property and data center in Boden, Sweden, in November 2023. Johanna Thornblad, Hive’s country president for Sweden, stated at the time:
“The new data center will enable HIVE to grow its regional footprint while further demonstrating its commitment to its ESG focus, sustainable practices, environmental responsibility, and energy efficiency with its newest “green” energy powered data center.”
Additionally, the company confirmed that the property will house the company’s next iteration of ASIC servers and increase Bitcoin production.
Hive maintains and owns data center facilities in Canada, Sweden, and Iceland. It advocates for using renewable energy sources in cloud-based digital asset mining, including Bitcoin.
