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Spanish princess faces probe into assets

A Spanish judge has ordered an investigation into the tax affairs of King Juan Carlos's youngest daughter, Princess Cristina, adding to the woes of the scandal-hit royal family.

Spanish princess faces probe into assets
The Infanta Cristina must hand over a full tax report to authorities investigating her husband over allegations of embezzelment. Photo: ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP

A judge in Palma de Mallorca demanded on Friday that the tax authorities provide him with a report on Cristina's property and non-property assets, investment funds, financial assets and deposits, a copy of the order showed.

The judge, Jose Castro, is presiding over an inquiry into allegations of embezzlement against the 47-year-old princess' husband, the former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin.

Cristina won some respite on May 7th when judges spared her for the time being from being called into court to be questioned as a formal suspect in the embezzlement case.

But they said she may yet be summoned to the court in Palma de Mallorca on the Balearic Islands in another branch of the affair: a tax and money-laundering case also linked to her husband.

Castro is investigating accusations that Urdangarin and his former business partner Diego Torres embezzled six million euros in public funds meant for sports events.

The money was allegedly placed in the non-profit Noos Institute, which Urdangarin chaired from 2004 to 2006 and of which Cristina was a board member.

Neither she nor Urdangarin has been charged with any crime.

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TAXES

Beskæftigelsesfradraget: What is Denmark’s employment allowance?

Denmark's government may soon announce changes to its tax reform plans, which will give all wage earners a bigger employment allowance. What is this and how will it affect foreigners' earnings?

Beskæftigelsesfradraget: What is Denmark's employment allowance?

What is the employment allowance? 

The Beskæftigelsesfradraget (from beskæftigelse, meaning employment, and fradrag, meaning rebate) was brought in by the centre-right Liberal Party back in 2004, the idea being that it would incentivise people to get off welfare and into a job.

Everyone whose employer pays Denmark’s 8 percent AM-bidrag, or arbejdsmarkedsbidrag, automatically receives beskæftigelsesfradraget. Unlike with some of Denmark’s tax rebates, there is no need to apply. The Danish Tax Agency simply exempts the first portion of your earnings from income taxes. 

In 2022, beskæftigelsesfradraget was set at 10.65 percent of income with a maximum rebate of 44,800 kroner. 

How did the government agree to change the employment allowance in its coalition deal? 

In Responsibility for Denmark, the coalition agreement between the Social Democrats, the Liberals and the Moderate Party, the new government said it would set aside 5 billion kroner for tax reforms.

Of this, 4 billion kroner was earmarked for increasing the employment allowance, with a further 0.3 billion going towards increasing an additional employment allowance for single parents.

According to the public broadcaster DR, the expectation was that this would increase the standard employment  allowance to 12.75 percent up to a maximum rebate of 53,600 kroner. 

How might this be further increased, according to Børsen? 

According to a report in the Børsen newspaper, the government now plans to set aside a further 1.75 billion kroner for tax reforms, of which nearly half — about 800 million kroner — will go towards a further increase to the employment allowance. 

The Danish Chamber of Commerce earlier this month released an analysis in which it argued that by raising removing all limits on the rebate for single parents and raising the maximum rebate for everone else by 20,300 kroner, the government could increase the labour supply by 4,850 people, more than double the 1,500 envisaged in the government agreement. 

According to the Børsen, the government estimates that its new extended allowance will increase the labour supply by 5,150 people.  

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