Riksdag move to fight Stockholm taxi-fare battle
Published: 27 Apr 12 10:57 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/40516/20120427/
After increased discussions about the problem with taxi drivers in Stockholm, the parliament decided Wednesday to begin taking steps towards regulating the city’s taxi service.
- Stockholm riots: causes and consequences (24 May 13)
- Schools burn on fifth night of Stockholm riots (24 May 13)
- Stockholm's ten best-kept secrets - revealed (22 May 13)
The Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN) claimed that a taxi ride from the Arlanda airport to central Stockholm can cost anywhere from 300 kronor ($45) to over a thousand, depending which taxi is chosen.
The government decided to appoint a commission and to introduce mandatory reporting centres. There will also be a new requirement for the taxi drivers' local knowledge, which used to be required in Stockholm earlier but was removed on April 1st this year.
The drivers will also be controlled through the Swedish Tax Authority (Skatteverket) and will be required to report their incomes.
While the new laws will not affect the drivers on the black market, the tax agency considers that this increase in reporting earnings will allow access to withheld taxes that are estimated to be worth around one to 1.5 billion kronor per year.
The process of bringing the laws into effect is something that MP Anders Ygeman of the Riksdag's committee on traffic (Trafikutskottet) believes may take up to a year, but will be worthwhile.
“You can’t get access to all the tax evasion, but by establishing these reporting centres, the tax agency believes it can bring in 400 million kronor through the operation of taxis with clear signs,” he told DN.
However, the introduction of the new laws still leaves the possibility of exorbitant taxi prices aimed at visitors to Sweden.
“We still will have the freedom of set prices, so the drivers are doing nothing illegal, even if it is deeply immoral and aims to trick travellers,” he told the paper.
The Local/og
Follow The Local on Twitter
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
Sweden's economic mood dips: survey
Swedish consumers are feeling less optimistic about the economy, with a down-turn also visible in the mood of the manufacturing industry, Sweden's National Institute for Economic Research said on Friday. READ () »
Swedish fashion grads turn to melancholy
This year's Beckmans fashion graduates unleashed a dramatic clash of collections in Stockholm this week. It may have been dazzlingly hot outside in the sunshine, but on the catwalk things got a little dark. READ () »
Sweden 'fails to help well-educated foreigners'
The white-collar union Saco has lambasted Sweden's Employment Agency for its failure to help well-educated, foreign-born job seekers, whose unemployment rate is more than three times the average for people born in Sweden. READ () »
Mixed results for Sweden refugee job push
Fifteen percent of refugees in Sweden who enrolled in the new establishment system the past two years have gone on to find jobs, new figures show, leading some observers to worry that the low success rate will place a burden on the benefits system. READ () »
Riksbank unveils new board members
Sweden's central bank has appointed two new board members plucked from banking and academia to replace two outgoing members, one of whom was an outspoken critic of the Riksbank's commitment to the government's inflation goal. READ () »
350 jobs lost as Ericsson shuts Swedish factory
Swedish telecom giant Ericsson has buckled under the pressure of European competition and will turn off the switch on a cable production plant in Sweden, leaving 350 employees without jobs. READ () »
Sweden has 'lower tax burden' than Senegal
While Sweden has a reputation for having one of the most painful tax bills in the world, a new report ranks Sweden 20th when comparing the tax burden on salaries when social security payments and salary brackets are taken into account. READ () »
Ericsson probed over suspected bribes
Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson is suspected of having bribed ministers in Romania in connection with being awarded a contract for the country's emergency number and is now under investigation in the United States. READ () »
Warning over 'long-term' Swedish export slump
Sweden's largest business confederation has gone out guns blazing, criticizing politicians for not facing up to the challenges of "a lost year for Swedish exports" in 2012. READ () »
'Lean hospital a sign of Swedish welfare reform'
A Stockholm hospital saved from closure by private health care providers has been hailed by the Economist as one of modern's Sweden public-private success stories. READ () »
- 19/05 Nord Stream plans new gas pipelines »
- 17/05 'Sweden next in line for housing market crash' »
- 17/05 Solna voted best place to live in Sweden »
- 17/05 Ikea founder rated fifth richest in the world »
- 17/05 LinkedIn profile lands Swede with hefty tax bill »
- 16/05 India in no rush to open first Ikea store »
- 16/05 H&M CEO to Bangladesh: raise minimum wages »
- 15/05 Sweden plummets in income equality ranking »
- 15/05 Pensioners to recruit ageing Swedish rockers »
- 15/05 Swedish shop hits back: our Converse are real »
| 24/05 | Accounts Payable to Bosch RexrothAcademic Work Danmark | Malmö |
| 24/05 | Analog Field Application EngineerArrow EMEA | Kista, STHM |
| 24/05 | Business Analyst, KarlskronaCapgemini Sverige AB | Karlskrona, BLE |
| 24/05 | CAE-Engineers within Solid MechanicsRandstad AB | Linköping or Växjö or Västerås, VTM |
| 24/05 | Corporate Sports Sales Executivesmarcus evans (Scandinavia) ltd. | Stockholm |
| 24/05 | Development Engineer ? Control SystemsExperis Engineering | SKÅ |
| 24/05 | Event Manager to pafPaf | Stockholm, STHM |
| 24/05 | Global System Administrator - RoxtecHarvey Nash Recruitment | |
| 24/05 | Interim Business ControllerPage Personnel | Stockholm |
| 24/05 | Interim Business ControllerPage Personnel | Stockholm, STHM |
- 24/05 IEA: protect consumers from energy price hikes »
- 24/05 German consumers keep recession at bay »
- 23/05 Tax evasion 'OK for Joe Normal' say Germans »
- 22/05 Spain and Germany fight youth employment »
- 21/05 Car boss asks Merkel to rethink CO2 pledge »
- 21/05 SAP to hire hundreds of autistic IT experts »
- 18/05 Economists warn against German euro exit »
- 17/05 Germany cool to France's EU economy plan »
- 17/05 Au pairs rules relax for non-German families »
- 16/05 Germany refuses to slam French economic policy »
- Corporate Sports Sales Executives
- INTERNATIONAL SALES EXECUTIVE
- Online Functional Designer
- Regional Sales Manager - Nordic EMEA (Mobility)
- Accounts Payable to Bosch Rexroth
- Interim Business Controller
- Senior IT Project Manager, Husqvarna
- Technical Expert - Antenna and
- Test Coordinator
- Analog Field Application Engineer
- 23:14 Cleaning business in Sweden
- 22:38 Phone landline installation
- 22:18 Husby Riots and violence against the police...
- 21:43 Moving to Sweden from England
- 20:24 Moving to Sweden (Questions) HELP
- 19:21 Questions regarding partner visa
- 16:29 Adobo- Filipino Recipe
- 12:33 Is it safe to keep money at forexbank?
- 04:24 Gym memberships without a personnummer?
- 00:35 Restaurant Inspection Scores
Create an account with Banc De Binary, the world’s most reputable binary options firm, and start cashing in today! You can start by practicing with our free $50,000 demo account.
www.bbinary.com
Expat counsellor & talk therapist offers counselling for stress, relationship issues, sexuality, culture adjustment & life coaching. Private & confidential. Stockholm or Skype. Contact me today! 08-559 22 636 or
CLICK HERE
Casa Birgitta in Algarve, Portugal. Reduced price in best location. Private estate on white sand beach. All amenities included. Book here today! edward_george1@hotmail.com
Find products and services that are specifically focused on English speakers living in Sweden!
FULL DETAILS
Individuals & Couples - Stockholm Beth Rogerson PhD - Clinical, Marriage & Family Therapist
Click or call 08-5580 1266 now
Your comments about this article:
The comments below have not been moderated in advance and are not produced by The Local unless clearly stated. Readers are responsible for the content of their own comments. Comments that breach our terms and conditions will be removed.
Huh? Duh? What? Come again?
Is this something entirely new in Sweden? Can it be true? They will actually have to REPORT their incomes? How terrible! How awful! That's a gross infringement of their human rights! Where is the ECJ? Has anybody called the UN yet? HRW? Amnesty?
Something must be done at once!
The airport needs to take a stronger role, after all it is their "customers" it ettects.
At the moment a tourist arrives outside terminal 5. there are 4 queues for the seperate taxi companies. A tourist has no idea what the difference is.
There is a "coordinator" sitting acroos the way but this person does effectlivly nothing.
Solution:
the airport puts up a fixed price list on the wall outside which all taxi companies contractually agree to. Any taxi (private operator) or taxi company who does not have a contract is not permitted to park and collect passengers. On the sign it also states that if a taxi driver charges more that the stated fare to inform the airport information desk on return for a refund of the difference (inforrm to have receipt). The taxi driver who overcharges will be in breach of contract, will pay the differnce times 5 or pay the differnce and the contract is cancelled. The contracts are charged at a fixed rate per year in order to pay for any admiistration the airport needs to do..
NYC:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/passenger/taxicab_rate.shtml
We should have something like that if the Swedish government would really want to solve the taxi-ripping-off-tourists issue. It just seems that the Swedish government is only thinking about tax revenue but ignoring the bottom line of the issue.
Shouldn't there be a little 'on' somewhere in there The Local?
After all, when you have a website in English, you dont speak American English, you speak English English don't you??
Since when has the Swedish government EVER worried about anything else other than tax revenues and their own salaries and benefits (hopefully tax-free in their eyes) of course.
It becomes glaringly obvious when one compares the prison time served by those who cheat on their taxes as opposed to one who commits murder, rape or other serious crime.
And obviously for trips within the city, there should be clearly posted and legally binding rates (base fare + SEK/km or SEK/minute) so that a buyer can compare.
Finally, the distance should be the REAL distance in km that one can verify on a smart phone , and not some unofficial guided tour of the greater Stockholm area just to massively crank up the fare.
Re: #6
And with the extra revenue from the taxi tax collection, and extra revenue from seizing all financial assets of convicted murderers and rapists, there should be enough funds to lock up more of all violent scum for a much longer period of time
So in other words NOTHING is being done to fix this problem!
Regulate the price they can charge for ALL trips and not just the Arlanda-Stockholm part and make operating a black taxi business punishable with jail-time for a minimum of 5-10 years.