The Finnish Tax Administration recently conducted a thorough audit of the country's taxi services, and some 60 percent of all companies were found to be negligent in their bookkeeping. Nearly a full third of taxi companies were found to practice fraud.
The most typical forms of mistakes booked include unregistered income and using company funds for personal expenses. The Tax Administration says that not all errors are necessarily deliberate, and may have arisen due to insufficient knowledge of Finnish taxation.
The taxman's audits mainly targeted companies whose activities have indicated a risk of wrongdoing. More than 180 audits had been completed by the end of October, leading to back tax payments of around 10,000 euros per company.
"Most taxi operators are honest entrepreneurs, even if this series of audits may make it seem as though the field is rife with grey economy tactics," says Onni Kulla, who heads the tax investigations.
The data on shortcomings may also be affected by the reports printed out by taxi metres not being included as part of the bookkeeping materials.
The tax monitoring project seeks to oversee licensed taxi operators. The Tax Administration began its in-depth audits in late 2015, and they will continue into next spring.
