Ombudsman questions homeowner tax relief claim

The Danish Ombudsman, Niels Fenger, has expressed concerns over the lack of documentation supporting Skatteministeriet’s (Tax Ministry’s) claim that four out of five homeowners would receive a tax reduction with the new housing tax system. This statement was made without providing evidence, despite not being doubted by the Ombudsman. The statement surfaced after a journalist’s request for access to the calculations was denied. The Tax Ministry had informed the Ombudsman that the calculations were made using Statistics Denmark’s legal model server, yet no documents were available. Meanwhile, over half of the planned 1.7 million property valuations for 2020 have been sent out, a step crucial for determining if homeowners had been overcharged between 2011 and 2020. Tax Minister Rasmus Stoklund acknowledges the criticism but notes that the Ombudsman did not question the accuracy of the tax relief statement.