An alleged proposal by the ministry of taxation that could raise the average rent by 1,000 kroner is being condemned by a national housing group

Renters face an additional 1,000 kroner in yearly payments due to a landlord’s tax to be imposed by the Tax Ministry, reports public broadcaster DR.

According to the Federation of Housing Associations (BL), which received a draft copy of the ministry’s property tax proposals, the ministry is trying to sneak the fee in through the back door.

‘I’m speechless. This is one of the most blatant attempts at skirting the law I’ve ever seen,’ said Palle Adamsen, BL’s president, on the organisation’s website.

Adamsen stated that BL nearly overlooked the clause, which appears near the end of the draft and said that the tax would increase yearly rental payments by between 500-600 kroner per year.

He added that the tax is not part of the government’s tax reform plan, where only an administrative property tax is mentioned.

‘The document suggests that the property tax will bring the state an extra 175 million kroner, but our own documentation suggests that figure is closer to 500 million,’ said Adamsen. ‘And when you add on the landlord tax, the figure shoots up to over 1 billion kroner annually.’

Kristian Jensen, the tax minister, denied that there was any attempt to fiddle with the figures. He told public broadcaster DR that he would welcome viewing BL’s own calculations on the proposed taxes.