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ABBA Money Troubles Bjorn Again
Björn Ulvaeus has apparently failed to pay taxes, taxes, taxes on his "Money Money Money."
The Swedish government is alleging that the ex-ABBA leader failed to pay nearly $11.6 million in back taxes on song royalties between 1999-2003 by laundering the profits through offshore accounts and has demanded Ulvaeus pony up.
While the "Dancing Queen" purveyor claims he signed over the rights to his various music production companies to businesses abroad back in the '70s, the Swedish Tax Agency claims the handing over of rights was a sham devised simply to avoid paying the hefty fees.
"We believe he owns the rights and that he did not give this information in his declarations," Merja Classon, an official with the bureau, told Swedish radio, per Reuters.
For his part, Ulvaeus claims his rights-transfer was not just for show, nor was it to get out of paying Swedish income taxes, which incidentally, at 58 percent, are among the highest in the world.
"The tax board's basis for the decision is that Bjorn did not sign over his rights, but they were transferred according to the rules, and not because of the tax effects," the singer's lawyer, Sven Rygaard, told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
According to the publication, most of Ulvaeus' wealth is being held in an endowment on the Isle of Man, with separate trusts set up in Holland and Antilles. The former pop star's royalty payments and income from record sales have reportedly been channeled through a network of trusts in the latter two locales, tax havens, the paper reports, which led the government to file the laundering charge.
Further red flags were raised when, in 2003, Ulvaeus, who cocreated the successful Broadway musicals Mamma Mia! and Chess, declared a Swedish income of 2 million kronor, or less than $300,000.
"It was for English reasons that is was done when Bjorn moved there in 1984," Rygaard said, referring to Ulvaeus' transfer of funds from Sweden to the western British isle. "That's what the tax board has now found fault with. Obviously we're going to appeal against this. We're pretty convinced that we'll be proven correct."
The singer's lawyer further stated that Ulvaeus, 60, was well within his rights to take measures to reduce his tax bill, even if those measures were deemed unfavorable by the Swedish government.
Rygaard said he has already filed an appeal on Ulvaeus' behalf.
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