An Icelandic seafood company and its affiliates have been ordered to pay additional taxes of ISK213 million (€1.38 million) plus interest.
All criminal charges relating to the companies’ tax payments during 2012 – 2018 have been dropped.
Following the investigation which began around three years ago, the Revenue and Customs Office in Iceland has ordered Samherji to pay an additional ISK60 million (€390,000), an increase of 0.2% over taxes already paid during the period whilst affiliate Sæból fjárfestingarfélag must pay an additional ISK153 million (€990,000) which represents a further 6%.
The charges relate to unpaid income tax and social security contributions for crew members (Samherji) and a dispute over whether overseas income was taxable (Sæból).
Thorsteinn Már Baldvinsson, chief executive of Samherji said it was common for tax liability to be reassessed after such disputes, instead focusing on what he called ‘unfounded’ accusations of criminality.
“Three years ago, very serious accusations were made against us regarding tax evasion and money laundering, which were said to amount to billions of ISK,” he said.
“It has now become evident that those accusations were unfounded, and our tax cases have been closed with criminal charges being dropped and a new assessment of our taxes, as is common in cases where there are disputes about the interpretation of taxability.”
