Denmark’s appeals bodies for property tax cases cannot review the calculations behind the new property valuations, a response to the Parliamentary Ombudsman shows.
DR Nyheder reports, based on a freedom of information request, that central appeals bodies lack access to all the calculations behind the new property valuations. That includes the underlying figures deciding what the tax authorities value a plot of land at in kroner. The valuations form the basis for Danish property taxes.
The response was sent to Folketingets Ombudsmand by Skatteankestyrelsen, the Tax Appeals Agency. Homeowners who believe their valuation is wrongly calculated can complain to Skatteankestyrelsen and Landsskatteretten. Neither has access to the model calculations made by Vurderingsstyrelsen, the Danish Property Assessment Agency.
In its answer, Skatteankestyrelsen wrote that the appeals body has no way to review Vurderingsstyrelsen’s model calculations. The agency told DR that by the start of September it had received 259 complaints specifically about the 2022 condominium valuations. Fifty of those cases have already been closed.
The valuations are produced using statistical curves and computer models. DR has previously reported up to 100,000 errors in the new valuations. Law professor Rasmus Grønved Nielsen of the University of Copenhagen described the control as illusory, since no one can explain the basis of the decision, and called the arrangement Kafkaesque.
The homeowner behind the case
The Ombudsman’s questions to the tax authorities follow a complaint from homeowner Claus Bo Christensen from Espergærde. Last year he could not find out how his land value had been calculated. He says homeowners are told to contact bodies that cannot actually help them.
Berlingske described his attempts to obtain the figures in September, and the case reached the Ombudsman two days later. Christensen has since received a final rejection from Landsskatteretten in a complaint over the missing access to the calculations.
Skatteankestyrelsen wrote that it can see the adjustments made by Vurderingsstyrelsen, but not the calculation behind each percentage adjustment. Instead, it checks the final result. The agency told DR that it has access to public registers, method freedom, and is not bound by Vurderingsstyrelsen’s choice of comparable properties.
Skatteankestyrelsen also stated that it is an independent appeals authority assessing the overall valuation judgment. Its casework does not include a check of the model calculation behind property valuations.
Vurderingsstyrelsen gave a similar answer, stating that Skatteankestyrelsen should not address model calculation or method. It says it forwards other data and calculations used in the decision, and that the appeals body carries out a fresh review of the valuation basis. Folketingets Ombudsmand has not yet concluded its investigation.
