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Wikipedia

Swedish Taxpayers' Association

April 12, 2024

The Swedish Taxpayers' Association (Swedish: Skattebetalarnas förening) is an association and taxpayers union in Sweden which advocates low taxes and efficiency in the public sector.[1] The association was first founded in 1921 and since then has grown very fast. It issues its own magazine the Common Sense (Sunt Förnuft) four times a year.[2] The current chairman of the board is Pia Kinhult and the CEO (since October 2016) is Christian Ekström.[3]

History edit

The association was first founded in spring 1921 under the initiative of Marcus Wallenberg Sr., former CEO of the Stockholms Enskilda Bank, to promote better management of tax revenue.[4] The founders were mainly business leaders who concerned the political leaders and “the ignorant mass” would undermine the entrepreneurship and economic progress without an independent organization offering supervision. Their using methods were simple and direct: reveal the waste and misuse of tax revenue in the public sector; convince the public that the heavy taxation will bring threat to work, saving and entrepreneurship.[5] At the end of 1925, the association has grown into an influential organization with over 40,000 members. And later, it also became the model for similar organizations in Denmark, Finland, and Norway.[4]

Just as the tax foundation in the United States began to calculate the “tax freedom day” in 1971, the association also began its own calculation for Sweden at the same year.

In the 1980s, the association held a series of campaigns for tax reduction. One of its slogans was "half left" (hälften kvar) at the time. This probably is one of the factors that led to a significant reform in Sweden called “tax reform of the century” in 1990 and 1991, introduced by the then Social Democratic government.[6]

Also, in 2007, the abolition of the property tax and the wealth tax by alliance government was, to some degree, due to the association’s long-term campaign together with other organizations like the House Owners National Association (Villaägarnas riksförbund) and the Shareholders’ Association (Aktiespararna).[7]

In 2016, the association revealed to the public that 200,000 retirees missed the promised tax relief because of the wrong calculation from the government institutions.[8]

The association is a member of several international taxpayers organizations like the World Taxpayers Association and the Taxpayers Association of Europe.[9][10]

Association Structure edit

According to its statutes, the association works to promote the following goals:

  • Economy and efficiency in the public sector.
  • Low and visible taxes.
  • Simple and clear tax legislation.
  • Legal certainty for taxpayers.

Both natural and legal persons are entitled to membership. Members pay prescribed fees for the association which decided by the annual general meeting. Membership is valid from the first of the following month after payment. Each member has one vote in the association. Membership ceases if members don’t pay the fee or apply for quit. In other conditions, if a member brings some damage to the association obviously, the board can exclude it with 2/3 majority approval. The decision takes effect immediately.

The annual general meeting of the association will be held every year in May. The meeting has multiple functions: the election of the Board; determination of the fees for the Board and auditors; discharge of members of the Board and CEO; election of auditors and deputy auditors; election of Nomination Committee; determination of the annual fee; report from the Board, CEO and the auditors; voting. Decisions are made by simple majority of the meeting.

The Board of the association consists of one chairman, two vice-chairmen, and six other members. The term of the chairman and vice-chairman is three years. The Board is responsible for the association’s management and has the power to appoint CEO, who works under the guideline of the Board. Board members shouldn’t be members of parliament, county council, city council. But there is no barrier to membership in parties or organizations. The rule is only designed to serve for the political independence of the association.

The Board also needs to build the committee (AU) which consists of three to five people, to prepare matters for discussion in the Board.[11]

Attempted political coup edit

In 2005, Sweden Democrats (SD), National Democrats (ND), and other related anti-immigration far-right organizations led by Carl Lundström and Kenneth Sandberg tried a coup against the Swedish Taxpayers Association.[12] Its main goal was to gain greater influence within the association, by getting their supporters to attend the annual general meeting in Malmo, to lead the organization in the direction of Sweden Democrats’ policy to emphasize the negative impact and burden of the immigration on domestic taxpayers’ interests. The attempted coup has once brought a great threat to the association’s independent position in politics. But once the news reached the ears of the Conservatives and the Liberal Party, they sent their own supporters to the annual general meeting in Malmo to counteract SD/ND supporters. Even, they bought tickets for their supporters from Stockholms to Malmo in an anonymous way. In the end, the efforts of SD/ND ended in failure. Then chairman of the association Claes Levin was re-elected.[13][14]

Waste Mediator edit

The association has a member working as Waste Mediator (“slöseriombudsmannen”) who has the responsibility to review the public funds used by the politicians and officials. The current mediator is satire cartoonist Martin Jacobsson Slöso.[15] The former mediators include Lars Wilderäng, Martin Borgs, Arvid Malm, Eva Cooper, Johan Ingerö and Rebecca Weidmo Uvell.

Chairman edit

  • 1921–1943: Marcus Wallenberg
  • 1943–1953: Ragnar Blomquist
  • 1953–1969: Jacob Wallenberg
  • 1969–1976: Curt Nicolin
  • 1976–1983: Hans Stahle
  • 1983–1999: Tom Wachtmeister
  • 1999–2003: Björn Wolrath
  • 2003–2007: Claes Levin
  • 2007–2016: Dick Kling
  • 2016–: Pia Kinhult

CEOs edit

  • 1921–1929: Erland Nordlund
  • 1930–1954: Lars Akselson
  • 1955–1963: Sven-Ivar Ivarsson
  • 1963–1984: Ulf Öjeman
  • 1985–2000: Björn Tarras-Wahlberg
  • 2000–2003: Gunnar Eliasson
  • 2004–2012: Robert Gidehag
  • 2013–2016: Joacim Olsson
  • 2016–: Christian Ekström

References edit

  1. ^ "Success Stories from Taxpayers Associations Around the World". World Taxpayers' Association.
  2. ^ "Common Sense". Swedish Taxpayers' Association, accessed 2017-05-16.
  3. ^ "Mynewsdesk". Swedish Taxpayers' Association, accessed 2017-05-16.
  4. ^ a b "Nordisk Familjebok".
  5. ^ Aftonbladet debatt, 5 februari 1999: En förening under falsk flagg
  6. ^ Skattebetalarnas förening: Vår verksamhet 2010-04-05 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 2017-05-17
  7. ^ "Ny fajt mot fastighetsskatten".
  8. ^ "200.000 går miste om skattesänkning - DN.SE".
  9. ^ "World Taxpayers Association".
  10. ^ "Taxpayers Association of Europe".
  11. ^ "Swedish Taxpayers' Association Structure".
  12. ^ "Dagens Nyheter, 26 september 2005: Sverigedemokrater frodas i Skånes mylla".
  13. ^ "Politisk kupp mot Skattebetalarna". Dagens Nyheter, acceseed 2017-05-16.
  14. ^ "Ny styrelse för Skattebetalarnas förening vald".
  15. ^ "new waste mediator".

External links edit

  • Official website

April 12, 2024
swedish, taxpayers, association, swedish, skattebetalarnas, förening, association, taxpayers, union, sweden, which, advocates, taxes, efficiency, public, sector, association, first, founded, 1921, since, then, grown, very, fast, issues, magazine, common, sense. The Swedish Taxpayers Association Swedish Skattebetalarnas forening is an association and taxpayers union in Sweden which advocates low taxes and efficiency in the public sector 1 The association was first founded in 1921 and since then has grown very fast It issues its own magazine the Common Sense Sunt Fornuft four times a year 2 The current chairman of the board is Pia Kinhult and the CEO since October 2016 is Christian Ekstrom 3 Contents 1 History 2 Association Structure 3 Attempted political coup 4 Waste Mediator 5 Chairman 6 CEOs 7 References 8 External linksHistory editThe association was first founded in spring 1921 under the initiative of Marcus Wallenberg Sr former CEO of the Stockholms Enskilda Bank to promote better management of tax revenue 4 The founders were mainly business leaders who concerned the political leaders and the ignorant mass would undermine the entrepreneurship and economic progress without an independent organization offering supervision Their using methods were simple and direct reveal the waste and misuse of tax revenue in the public sector convince the public that the heavy taxation will bring threat to work saving and entrepreneurship 5 At the end of 1925 the association has grown into an influential organization with over 40 000 members And later it also became the model for similar organizations in Denmark Finland and Norway 4 Just as the tax foundation in the United States began to calculate the tax freedom day in 1971 the association also began its own calculation for Sweden at the same year In the 1980s the association held a series of campaigns for tax reduction One of its slogans was half left halften kvar at the time This probably is one of the factors that led to a significant reform in Sweden called tax reform of the century in 1990 and 1991 introduced by the then Social Democratic government 6 Also in 2007 the abolition of the property tax and the wealth tax by alliance government was to some degree due to the association s long term campaign together with other organizations like the House Owners National Association Villaagarnas riksforbund and the Shareholders Association Aktiespararna 7 In 2016 the association revealed to the public that 200 000 retirees missed the promised tax relief because of the wrong calculation from the government institutions 8 The association is a member of several international taxpayers organizations like the World Taxpayers Association and the Taxpayers Association of Europe 9 10 Association Structure editAccording to its statutes the association works to promote the following goals Economy and efficiency in the public sector Low and visible taxes Simple and clear tax legislation Legal certainty for taxpayers Both natural and legal persons are entitled to membership Members pay prescribed fees for the association which decided by the annual general meeting Membership is valid from the first of the following month after payment Each member has one vote in the association Membership ceases if members don t pay the fee or apply for quit In other conditions if a member brings some damage to the association obviously the board can exclude it with 2 3 majority approval The decision takes effect immediately The annual general meeting of the association will be held every year in May The meeting has multiple functions the election of the Board determination of the fees for the Board and auditors discharge of members of the Board and CEO election of auditors and deputy auditors election of Nomination Committee determination of the annual fee report from the Board CEO and the auditors voting Decisions are made by simple majority of the meeting The Board of the association consists of one chairman two vice chairmen and six other members The term of the chairman and vice chairman is three years The Board is responsible for the association s management and has the power to appoint CEO who works under the guideline of the Board Board members shouldn t be members of parliament county council city council But there is no barrier to membership in parties or organizations The rule is only designed to serve for the political independence of the association The Board also needs to build the committee AU which consists of three to five people to prepare matters for discussion in the Board 11 Attempted political coup editIn 2005 Sweden Democrats SD National Democrats ND and other related anti immigration far right organizations led by Carl Lundstrom and Kenneth Sandberg tried a coup against the Swedish Taxpayers Association 12 Its main goal was to gain greater influence within the association by getting their supporters to attend the annual general meeting in Malmo to lead the organization in the direction of Sweden Democrats policy to emphasize the negative impact and burden of the immigration on domestic taxpayers interests The attempted coup has once brought a great threat to the association s independent position in politics But once the news reached the ears of the Conservatives and the Liberal Party they sent their own supporters to the annual general meeting in Malmo to counteract SD ND supporters Even they bought tickets for their supporters from Stockholms to Malmo in an anonymous way In the end the efforts of SD ND ended in failure Then chairman of the association Claes Levin was re elected 13 14 Waste Mediator editThe association has a member working as Waste Mediator sloseriombudsmannen who has the responsibility to review the public funds used by the politicians and officials The current mediator is satire cartoonist Martin Jacobsson Sloso 15 The former mediators include Lars Wilderang Martin Borgs Arvid Malm Eva Cooper Johan Ingero and Rebecca Weidmo Uvell Chairman edit1921 1943 Marcus Wallenberg 1943 1953 Ragnar Blomquist 1953 1969 Jacob Wallenberg 1969 1976 Curt Nicolin 1976 1983 Hans Stahle 1983 1999 Tom Wachtmeister 1999 2003 Bjorn Wolrath 2003 2007 Claes Levin 2007 2016 Dick Kling 2016 Pia KinhultCEOs edit1921 1929 Erland Nordlund 1930 1954 Lars Akselson 1955 1963 Sven Ivar Ivarsson 1963 1984 Ulf Ojeman 1985 2000 Bjorn Tarras Wahlberg 2000 2003 Gunnar Eliasson 2004 2012 Robert Gidehag 2013 2016 Joacim Olsson 2016 Christian EkstromReferences edit Success Stories from Taxpayers Associations Around the World World Taxpayers Association Common Sense Swedish Taxpayers Association accessed 2017 05 16 Mynewsdesk Swedish Taxpayers Association accessed 2017 05 16 a b Nordisk Familjebok Aftonbladet debatt 5 februari 1999 En forening under falsk flagg Skattebetalarnas forening Var verksamhet Archived 2010 04 05 at the Wayback Machine accessed 2017 05 17 Ny fajt mot fastighetsskatten 200 000 gar miste om skattesankning DN SE World Taxpayers Association Taxpayers Association of Europe Swedish Taxpayers Association Structure Dagens Nyheter 26 september 2005 Sverigedemokrater frodas i Skanes mylla Politisk kupp mot Skattebetalarna Dagens Nyheter acceseed 2017 05 16 Ny styrelse for Skattebetalarnas forening vald new waste mediator External links editOfficial website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Swedish Taxpayers 27 Association amp oldid 1215883524, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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