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Spain ex-king ‘submits papers to sort out tax affairs’

Spain's scandal-hit former king Juan Carlos I has submitted a declaration to the Spanish tax office seeking to put his financial situation in order, El Pais newspaper reported on Sunday.

Published: 6 December 2020 15:33 CET
Spain ex-king 'submits papers to sort out tax affairs'
King Juan Carlos I. Photo: AFP

The voluntary declaration was presented by his lawyer with sources telling the paper the move was in connection with an ongoing anti-graft investigation looking into his credit card use.

The legal probe was confirmed last month Spain's attorney general, with judicial sources telling AFP at the time they were looking at whether the former king used cards linked to accounts not registered in his name — which could constitute a possible money-laundering offence.

They said investigators were looking into funds deposited in at several Spanish bank accounts held by a Mexican business and a Spanish Air Force official, and whether they had been accessed by the former monarch.

Prosecutors had sent legal requests abroad to determine whether the monies deposited in the accounts had been hidden from the tax authorities.

If proven, the allegations could constitute a money laundering offence for which he could be prosecuted given that the movement of funds and use of the credit cards occurred after his abdication in June 2014.

A spokesman for the Spanish tax office could not confirm or deny the El Pais report about the voluntary declaration, saying for legal reasons the agency could not comment on specific cases.

There was no response from the attorney's law firm.

El Pais said the treasury was analysing the document and would decide in the coming days whether it needed more information and what action to take.

The move came four months after the former head of state, who is also facing two other investigations into his finances, fled into self-imposed exile in the United Arab Emirates.

The first was opened two years ago with prosecutors examining a Saudi high-speed rail contract that was won by a consortium of Spanish companies in 2011, seeking to establish whether the then-monarch was paid a commission.

According to Swiss daily La Tribune, Saudi's late king Abdullah deposited $100 million into a Swiss private bank in 2008 to which Juan Carlos I had access, prompting suspicions it was a kickback for the contract which was awarded three years later.

The inquiry was triggered following revelations by the octagenarian's former mistress Corinna Larsen, with investigators in Spain and Switzerland now looking into his finances.

MUST READ: Everything you need to know about Spain's Christmas lottery

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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?

Published: 30 October 2023 15:21 CET
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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