Swedish Tax Agency Demands $90 Million in Back Taxes from 18 Crypto Miners

The Skatteverket, Sweden's tax authority, has concluded its scrutiny of 21 cryptocurrency mining companies conducted over a span of four years, from 2020 to 2023. This examination has culminated in a significant financial demand from 18 of these firms due to their provision of "misleading or incomplete" tax filings aimed at garnering undue tax benefits.

These companies manipulated their business descriptions to dodge value-added tax (VAT) obligations on taxable activities. Moreover, strategies to sidestep import duties on mining apparatus and evade income tax on the profits derived from mining were also identified.

A statement from the Skatteverket highlighted the fiscal consequences of these actions:

"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 combined financial repercussions for these firms amount to a staggering 990 million Swedish krona (approximately $90 million). This figure includes 932 million krona ($85.4 million) in unremitted VAT and additional tax penalties worth around 57.9 million krona ($5.3 million).

Despite challenges by the crypto mining entities against this financial imposition, the administrative court upheld the tax demand, adjusting the total following the decisions in appeals made by two of the firms.

In a separate development from November 2023, Hive Digital Technologies enhanced its operations by acquiring a commercial site and a data centre in Boden, Sweden. Johanna Thornblad, Hive's country president for Sweden, commented on the expansion:

“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.”

The new facility is set to support an incoming generation of ASIC servers, boosting Bitcoin production capabilities. Hive operates across various global locations, including Canada and Iceland, championing environmentally friendly energy solutions for cloud-based digital asset mining.