Archive post: »Venstre's revenge campaign—again at taxpayers' expense« · 2021-11-11

• Anne Honoré Østergaard — Mentioned in the current archived text
• Peter Hansen — Mentioned in the current archived text

Source title: Venstres hævntogt – igen på skatteydernes regning

Text version dated 11 Nov 2021

Venstres hævntogt - igen på skatteydernes regning Kan et politisk parti bruge folketinget i et hævntogt mod en privat borger? Hvorfor interesserer et folketingsmedlem (V) fra Nordjyllands Storkreds sig for en ejendomshandel i Sønderborg? Er kæden hoppet helt af for Venstre?

Læs og vurdér selv. Fagfolk har kaldt det den ultimative hævn, når et parti bruger Folketinget til at køre hetz mod en enkelt borger. Men hvordan effektuerer man sådan en plan.

Tja, det er ikke helt enkelt, men med de rette forbindelser er alt muligt. Her får du opskriften. Venstrepolitikeren Peter Erik Hansen fra Sønderborg og JydskeVestkysten fremførte i 2020 gennem 2 artikler en udokumenteret anklage (om skattefusk) mod iværksætteren ejeren.

Det drejede sig om en bolighandel, der, gennem rådgivning fra nogle af branchens bedste fagfolk, blev udført helt efter bogen. Det eneste overraskende i den var et radikalt prisfald på ejendommen. I øvrigt et prisfald som Peter Erik Hansen og Venstre i Sønderborg kunne tage en stor del af æren for.

Kort efter blev der stillet et Paragraf 20-spørgsmål til Skatteministeren. Her blev ministeren afkrævet et svar om hans holdning til de to artikler. Da artiklerne mest var helt blottet for dokumentation, kunne man tro, at de var fremstillet med dette ene formål for øje.

Hvorfor et Paragraf 20-spørgsmål? Et folketingsmedlem kan stille skriftlige spørgsmål direkte til en minister til skriftlig besvarelse. § 20-spørgsmål skal angå ministerens holdning. Ministeren skal svare inden for 6 hverdage.

På godt dansk betyder det, at hvis man vil have Skatteforvaltningen, journalister og det øvrige professionelle Danmark til at fokusere på en sag og reagere hurtigt, bruger man et Paragraf 20-spørgsmål. Peter Erik Hansen er ikke medlem af folketinget, selv om han har forsøgt flere gange. Alligevel endte et spørgsmål, der kunne være stillet af ham, lige midt på skatteministerens bord.

De luftige anklager blev i stedet fremsendt af Anne Honoré Østergaard (V). AHØ er ikke en person, ejeren tidligere har haft nogen form for kontakt med. Hun har heller ikke nogen umiddelbar tilknytning til Sønderborg.

Derfor er spørgsmålet næppe hendes egen idé. Vi gætter på, at et folketingsmedlem, som har tilknytning til Sønderborg og Peter Erik Hansen, har båret skytset i stilling. Spørgsmålet kan du se her: https://www.ft.dk/samling/20191/spoergsmaal/s1313/index.htm Intet fortilfælde Skatteministeren tog naturligvis ikke stilling til de to artikler, hvilket næppe havde været forventeligt.

Alligevel er den lille note i historien noget, der kan få betydning mange år fremadrettet. Det er ikke en plet på straffeattesten, men borgerne forventer ikke, at politikere bringer en anklage for ministeren helt uden grund, og derfor er det naturligvis en blivende plet på ejerens ry: Ikke just noget, der gør det lettere at være iværksætter i Sønderborg. Flere revisorer og advokater, som har over 20 års erfaring inden for skattelovgivning, har udtalt, at de aldrig tidligere har set Folketinget brugt til et så målrettet hævntogt - og til vores kendskab er manøvren ikke før anvendt mod en privat borger.

Desværre bliver du nødt til at betale for venstres hævntogt 5-kroners spørgsmålet er naturligvis: Hvem skal betale for ministerens indsats og alle de embedsmænd, der har skulle bruge tid på hastesagen? Vi er næsten kede af at skrive det igen. Det skal du og landets øvrige skatteborgere.

Og 5 kroner er sikkert ikke nok til at ikke aflønne de dyre drenge for deres arbejde. Hvem opfylder kriterierne om tilknytning til Sønderborg og Venstre? Et sidste åbent spørgsmål er naturligvis: Hvilket folketingsmedlem opfylder kriterierne - og har erfaring med at misbruge toppen af det offentlige system til private hævntogter? https://www.berlingske.dk/politik/trane-noerby-har-faaet-svar-paa-sine-696-spoergsmaal

This is an automatic reading translation. The source’s allegations and assessments have not been independently confirmed through translation. Check wording, qualifications and meaning against the preserved Danish original. Some retained numbers may use Danish separators: a dot for thousands and a comma for decimals. Check amounts against the Danish original.

Venstre's revenge campaign—again at taxpayers' expense 

Can a political party use Folketinget in a revenge campaign against a private citizen? Why is a Venstre MP from Nordjyllands Storkreds interested in a property transaction in Sønderborg? Has Venstre completely lost the plot?

Read and judge for yourself. Professionals have called it the ultimate revenge when a party uses Folketinget to conduct a campaign against a single citizen. But how is such a plan carried out?

Well, it is not entirely simple, but with the right connections anything is possible. Here is the recipe. In 2020, Sønderborg Venstre politician Peter Erik Hansen and JydskeVestkysten made an undocumented allegation of tax fraud against the entrepreneur, the owner, through 2 articles.

It concerned a property transaction that, with advice from some of the industry’s best professionals, was carried out entirely by the book. The only surprising thing about it was a drastic fall in the value of the property. A fall, incidentally, for which Peter Erik Hansen and Venstre in Sønderborg could take a large share of the credit.

Shortly afterwards, a section 20 question was put to the Minister for Taxation, requiring him to give his opinion on the two articles. Since the articles were largely devoid of documentation, one might think they had been produced with this sole purpose in mind. Why a section 20 parliamentary question?

A member of the Danish Parliament can submit written questions directly to a minister for a written answer. Section 20 questions must concern the minister’s position. The minister must answer within 6 working days.

In plain language, if you want the tax administration, journalists and the rest of professional Denmark to focus on a case and respond quickly, you use a section 20 parliamentary question. Peter Erik Hansen is not a member of Folketinget, although he has tried several times. Nevertheless, a question he could have asked ended up right on the Minister for Taxation's desk.

Instead, the flimsy allegations were submitted by Anne Honoré Østergaard (V). AHØ is not someone with whom the owner has previously had any contact. Nor does she have any apparent connection to Sønderborg.

The question is therefore hardly her own idea. We guess that an MP connected to Sønderborg and Peter Erik Hansen positioned the artillery.

See question

No precedent
Naturally, the Minister for Taxation did not take a position on the two articles, which would hardly have been expected. Nevertheless, this small detail in the story could have consequences for many years to come. It is not a mark on a criminal record, but citizens do not expect politicians to bring an accusation before a minister entirely without reason.

It is therefore naturally a lasting stain on the owner’s reputation, hardly something that makes entrepreneurship in Sønderborg easier. Several accountants and lawyers with over 20 years of experience in tax law have stated that they have never before seen the Danish Parliament used for such a targeted revenge campaign – and, to our knowledge, the manoeuvre has not previously been used against a private citizen.

Unfortunately, you have to pay for Venstre’s revenge campaign
The 5-krone question is, naturally: Who must pay for the minister's work and all the officials who spent time on the urgent case? We almost regret writing it again. You and the country's other taxpayers must.

And 5 kroner is probably not enough to not pay these expensive fellows for their work. Who meets the criteria of connections to Sønderborg and Venstre? One final open question is naturally: Which MP meets those criteria—and has experience of misusing the top of the public system for private revenge campaigns?

Trane Nørby has received answers to her 696 questions. Read more here.