Prosecutor: Kujalleq Municipality has not been up to the task

On Tuesday afternoon, the case against Municipality of Kujalleq will continue on whether they have acted “intentionally or grossly negligently” by not paying their A-tax on time.

Before lunch, five witnesses gave their testimony, painting a picture of a municipality with ailing finances and poor management, but also a tax board that had not even discovered that Municipality of Kujalleq had been late paying its A-tax for 10 months.

When the Court in Greenland meets again, the prosecutor goes and the defense attorney in progress with documentation in the case.

Prosecutor Kristian Buskov Nierhoff reviews documents that contain communication between the Municipality of Kujalleq and the Tax Agency regarding fines for non-compliance tax payment.

They then move on to proceedings, where the prosecutor makes it clear that he does not buy Kommune Kujalleq's explanation that they did not know they paid the money late.

Municipality Kujallermi akileraarutinik A-nik piffissaq eqqorlugu akiliisimannginneq “piarinerunersoq annertuumilluunniit mianersuaalliornerunersoq” piillugu suliaq marlunngornermi ualikkut nanginneqarpoq.

Ilisimannittut tallimat komuni aningaasaqarnikkut ajornartorsiortoq, aqutsinerluttoq akileraartartullu Municipality Kujalliup qaammatini qulini akileraarutinik A-nik kingusinaarluni akiliisimaneranik namminneq paasisaqarsimannginnertik pillugu ullup-qeqqannginnerani nassuiaapput.

Kalaallit Nunaanni Eqqartuussivik katersuuteqqimmat unnerluussisussaatitaasoq illersuisorlu suliami uppernarsaatinik saqqummiussipput.

Unnerluussisup Kristian Buskov Nierhoffip Municipality Kujalliup Akileraartarnermullu Aqutsisoqarfiup akileraarutinik akiliisimannginnermut akiligassiissutigineqartussat pillugit attaveqatigiinnerat saqqummiuppaa.

Tamatuma kingorna inaarutaasumik saqqummiipput, unnerluussisullu Kommune Kujalleq kingusinaarluni akiliisimanerminik ilisimainnninginnera upperinagu erseqqissarpaa.

The law must be the same for everyone

If you ask Kommune Kujalleq's defender Charlotte Pedersen, the case is completely different. She believes that it is a matter of simple negligence.

She explains this by saying that the municipality has never intended not to pay its tax. And that they immediately contacted the Tax Agency when they discovered the error.

- We have nothing to support that the municipality knew that they had not paid A-tax on time, says Charlotte Pedersen.

She asks the court to disregard the testimony of Kim Rosendahl, as it does not correlate with what the other witnesses say. She is concerned that he is confusing some cases, and does not believe that his story is consistent with the material in the case.

The defense attorney also focuses on the fact that, according to the witnesses, the Danish Tax Agency did not know that the municipality had paid late until the municipality contacted them.

- If they had not decided to contact the Danish Tax Agency, then they would probably have avoided getting a fine because they were not selected for inspection. But because they were honest, they got a fine. That, in my opinion, is simply not right.

The defense attorney compares it to a lottery ticket, who gets a fine, when an employee from the Tax Agency gave a statement earlier in the day and said that the Tax Agency does not have a system to see who pays taxes late, so it is a bit random who gets a fine.

- The law should be the same for everyone. If the municipality is to have a fine, then everyone who does not pay on time should have a fine. And that is not the case, says Charlotte Pedersen.

The defense attorney believes that the fine can be a maximum of 1.5 million, since the way the fines are prepared is, according to her, incorrect.

The court in Greenland subsequently withdraws. A verdict in the case will be given on Tuesday, April 28 at 10 a.m.