The Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) has consented to the Tax Agency's appeal
and allowed that a tax surcharge may be imposed without consideration of the
substance of the matter. The case will now be referred back to the
Administrative Court which will consider whether Klövern submitted incorrect
information. If this is considered to be the case, a future tax surcharge of a
maximum of SEK 493 million can be imposed on Klövern. The judgment of the
Administrative Court is expected during 2012.
The Administrative Court will now consider whether incorrect information was
provided, i.e. whether Klövern submitted incorrect or too little information in
its application for a tax loss carryforward. Klövern regards the chances of a
favourable outcome in this case as being very good. Since the Tax Agency's
decision, Klövern has had a respite with payment of the tax surcharge, which has
not yet been charged to Klövern's income statement or balance sheet. The amount
will only be charged to income after a negative final judgment on the issue of
provision of incorrect information. In this eventuality, it is still possible
that Klövern may be exempted from the tax surcharge because of its
disproportionate size among other things.
"It is unfortunate that SAC does not share the view of the Administrative Court
of Appeal and the Administrative Court on the possibility of imposing a tax
surcharge. In the event of consideration of whether incorrect information was
provided, we are convinced that the information in the application for a tax
loss carryforward was adequate and that we will win when the matter is
considered on its merits by the administrative court", says Klövern's CEO Gustaf
Hermelin.
"We are surprised by SAC's judgment but are optimistic that, ultimately, no
surcharge will be imposed on Klövern", say Klövern's tax advisors Börje
Leidhammar, Wistrand advokatbyrå and Thomas Andersson, Deloitte. "In our
opinion, the information in the original application for a tax loss carryforward
is correct and no tax surcharge will be imposed on Klövern when a final decision
is made in the case."
The background is that Klövern requested reconsideration of tax assessment for
2003 in December 2003, when the company openly requested an additional deduction
for a loss of SEK 4,933 million. This loss related to sale of a subsidiary that
took place during the period when the company was an IT company. The Tax Agency
considered that Klövern was not entitled to the tax loss carryforward and
furthermore considered imposing a tax surcharge of SEK 493 million. For this
reason, Klövern withdrew its request for a deduction. The Tax Agency imposed a
surcharge in the spring of 2006 despite the Tax Agency no longer having a
request for a tax loss carryforward on which to make a decision. The
Administrative Court consented to Klövern's appeal and quashed the tax surcharge
in December 2007. The Tax Agency appealed to the Administrative Court of Appeal
which upheld the judgment of the Administrative Court in favour of Klövern in
2010. The Tax Agency then appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court and has
now won the case that a tax surcharge may formally be imposed despite no
consideration of the substance of the matter having taken place.
After Klövern withdrew its first request for a tax loss carryforward of SEK
4,933 million, a new request was submitted to the Tax Agency. The Tax Agency and
the lower courts have not approved the tax loss carryforward, but no new tax
surcharge has been imposed. Klövern has applied for leave to appeal against this
judgment. SAC is expected to announce a decision on leave to appeal during the
autumn of 2011.This proceeding is separate from the issue of a tax surcharge.
Nyköping, 22 June 2011
Klövern AB (publ)
For further information, please contact:
Gustaf Hermelin, CEO, +46 155-44 33 10/+46 70-560 00 00,
gustaf.hermelin@klovern.se
Britt-Marie Einar, Finance and IR Manager, Deputy CEO,
+46 155-44 33 12/+46 70-224 29 35, britt-marie.einar@klovern.se
Klövern is a real estate company committed to working closely with customers to
meet their needs of premises and services in Swedish growth regions. Klövern has
business units in ten cities: Borås, Karlstad, Kista, Linköping, Norrköping,
Nyköping, Täby, Uppsala, Västerås and Örebro. As at 31 March 2011, the value of
the properties totalled approximately SEK 13.8 billion and the rental value on
an annual basis was approximately SEK 1.5 billion. The Klövern share is listed
on Nasdaq OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm for medium-sized companies.
Klövern AB (publ), Box 1024, SE-611 29 Nyköping, Sweden. Tel +46 155-44 33 00,
Fax +46 155-44 33 22. Corporate registration no. 556482-5833. Registered office:
Nyköping. Website: www.klovern.se
This information is such that Klövern AB (publ) is obliged to disclose under the
Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The
information was made available for publication on 22 June 2011.
[HUG#1525282]
