Vilket pris har klimatet? – En undersökning av skattemässig behandling av utgifter hänförliga till klimatkompensation

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this essay is to investigate how limited liability companies’ expenses related to carbon offset are treated in the event of income taxation. To accomplish this purpose a legal dogmatic method has been applied. The law contains no specific regulation concerning the deductibility of costs attributable to carbon offset and, as a result, the assessment is made based on the general rules regarding deduction rights and prohibitions. The Supreme Administrative Court has largely relied on the same assessment model that was used in the determination of the deductibility of sponsorship expenses. In the first step of the assessment model, the court will determine whether there is a right of deduction following the general deduction rule in the Income Tax Act chapter 16 article 1. The Supreme Administrative Court applies a presumption that the expenses of a limited liability company fall within the scope of the general rule and thus makes a broad interpretation of the article. In the second step, an assessment is made if the right to deduct is prevented by the prohibition of deduction for gifts in the Income Tax Act chapter 9 article 2. It is unclear to what extent the fulfillment of the necessary prerequisite in civil law for a gift is decisive to qualify as a gift according to taxation law. In terms of court practice, it is primarily the necessary prerequisite transfer of wealth that has become of great importance. The prohibition of deduction of gifts prevents, in several situations, a company form being granted a deduction for costs of carbon offset, even though the cost is attributed to income acquisition and retention. By introducing a tax reduction for gifts for non-profit purposes for legal entities, it would be possible for a company that does not meet the tax deduction requirements to acquire a tax reduction instead. On July 1, 2019, the tax reduction for gifts was reintroduced when the donor is a natural person. Seen from a European perspective, Sweden is alone in not including legal entities in various tax incentives to promote the donations of gifts for non-profit purposes, such as environmental protection.