Representation = legala mutor? : Gränsen mellan representation enligt 16 kap. 2 § IL och mutor eller andra otillbörliga belöningar enligt 9 kap. 10 § IL

Sammanfattning: Companies use different forms of representation to promote business negotiations. The regulations for the right to deduction for the cost of representation are stated in Chapter 16 section 2 of the Swedish Income Tax Act (IL). According to the law there must be an im-mediate connection between the expenditure and the business practice and the claimed de-duction must be reasonable. The Swedish tax authority publishes general recommendations regarding representation which are used as guidelines for the tax payer to follow. The gen-eral provision about tax deduction can be found in Chapter 16 section 1 of the Swedish In-come Tax Act (IL), stating that expenses to acquire or retain income shall be deductible. Expenses that have an immediate connection with incomes count as tax deductible ex-penses in the business practice. The provision about deductible representation is in this manner more restrictive than the general principle in Chapter 16 section 1 of the Swedish Income Tax Act (IL). Taxation law is complicated and it may demand interpretation of the regulations. When gaps are present in regulations, certain interpretation methods and pro-cedures can be applied in order to increase the foreseeability for the tax payer. The Swedish tax authority’s general recommendation contributes to an increased foreseeability and con-formity since their instructions play a significant role regarding deduction for representa-tion. Personal living costs are not deductible according to Chapter 9 section 2 of the Swedish Income Tax Act (IL). The provision about representation in Chapter 16 section 2 of the Swedish Income Tax Act (IL) is not applicable on personal living costs since a strict de-mand for an immediate connection between the expenditure and business practices is re-quired. What is considered as an immediate connection between the expenditure and busi-ness practices is a matter of judgement on the basis of the circumstances in each individual case. The circumstances that need to be considered are differences between companies, type of movement, the form of representation and at how many occasions representation has occurred. Representation can adopt the form of bribes or other improper rewards as it lies in the na-ture of representation to function as an economic lubricant. According to Chapter 9 sec-tion 10 of the Swedish Income Tax Act (IL), expenses for bribes or other improper re-wards are not deductible. The meaning of improper is not further defined in the taxation regulations. Case law emanating from the criminal regulations in Chapter 17 section 7 and Chapter 20 section 2 of the Swedish Penal Code (BrB) may instead be used to clarify this conception. A judgement of all the circumstances in each individual case must be made to determine what is considered as improper.