THE BERGMAN AFFAIR
Kelman, Steven
The Ingmar Bergman affair in Sweden involves both facts and implications. As for the fact: was Bergman guilty of tax evasion? why was Bergman hauled away while directing a rehearsal...
...The policemen, who wore civilian dress, were never inside the rehearsal area, not to speak of on the stage, and could not be observed by the actors...
...How high they are is frequently exaggerated in sensationalistic articles in the American press that confuse marginal tax rates with total tax rates and paste over differences in the way taxes are levied in Sweden and in America...
...Since these programs are popular, almost all Swedish political leaders agree that radical changes in the tax system are impossible—which does not To Our Contributors • When sending manuscripts, please make sure that you do not send your only copy...
...Shortly thereafter, Bergman came out, and he left the Theater undramatically...
...Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, in late April, Bergman announced in a long letter published in a mass circulation newspaper that he was leaving 435 Sweden...
...In Bergman's case, a Swiss company, Persona AG, had been set up, which received several hundred thousand dollars in film royalties from Bergman films...
...Versions of the arrest differ...
...Some go to great length to avoid taxes...
...At this point, the money was transferred back to Sweden and Bergman paid capital-gains tax on the "profit" from his "investment" in the company...
...To this must be added a hefty sales tax of 17 percent on everything he buys, including food...
...q 436...
...THE EDITORS mean that many Swedes do not grumble about taxes, and that some do not grumble very loudly...
...Bergman was arrested for questioning in late January and indicted some time later...
...What of the implications...
...In the '70s the major Social Democratic efforts in the taxation area have involved lowering marginal tax rates (the tax on the last dollar of income—in a progressive tax system the marginal rates are higher than the average rates) for people with average incomes...
...Quickly, the other main facts of the case are these: shortly after his arrest, Bergman suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized...
...why was Bergman hauled away while directing a rehearsal of Strindberg's Dance of Death at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm...
...And please also be sure to enclose a stamped, selfaddressed envelope...
...These taxes go primarily to transfer payments (family allowances, housing allowances, pensions), which have a redistributive effect, and to such government programs as job creation and retraining, day-care centers, education and housing...
...Although initial press reports of Bergman's arrest stated or implied that police had virtually stormed the stage, the other version of Bergman's arrest--given not by Bergman himself, but by leaders of the Royal Dramatic Theater in an angry letter to the Swedish Chief State Prosecutor— agrees that the police never came onto the stage, but states: It was only the strong refusal of the Theater's chief secretary that prevented the police from coming into the rehearsal area, and instead content themselves with having Bergman immediately called into the Theater office where one policeman waited while the other went down to the stage entrance in order to, as he put it, "cover the exit...
...That does indeed say something about how Swedish politics works, a good deal more than many of the implications drawn by American journalists...
...It is not, I think, possible to argue seriously that Swedish society is coming apart at the seams because of taxes, or that the checking of tax returns implies a police state...
...The Gallup poll taken after Bergman's departure from Sweden showed the Social Democrats down by 4 percent, the largest month-to-month change registered by any political party since polls began being taken...
...It seems to me that the suspicions of the tax authorities against Bergman at least justified his being questioned (I have no competence to judge his possible guilt) and that Bergman's extreme reaction against the form of his arrest relates as much to Bergman's sensitive nature (his fear of being humiliated) as anything else...
...so MUCH for the facts...
...Had the film royalties been sent directly to Sweden, Bergman's company would have had to pay a considerably higher sum in corporation tax...
...He also revealed in this letter that the tax authorities were considering ruling that he had underpaid his taxes in some of his tax returns after 1970, a ruling not involving criminal charges of tax evasion but merely billing the taxpayer for the amount of underpayment...
...With all this, a Swedish worker with an income of 50,000 crowns a year (about $11,500) has a total direct tax burden of about 35 percent...
...The Theater heads also disputed the police story that Bergman could have said that he was unavailable until April...
...With the help of a guard the policemen contacted Bergman's secretary at the Theater, and the secretary told Bergman that the police wanted to talk with him...
...Swedish bureaucrats doubtlessly make their share of mistakes, but nobody who knows Swedish society can claim that Sweden is a country of knocks at the door in the middle of the night...
...As for the implications: what does the handling of the Bergman case say about the Swedish tax system...
...It is also possible to make the opposite argument...
...The tax authorities suspected that the Swiss company had been set up simply for the purpose of avoiding taxes...
...Tax authorities began the investigation of Bergman as part of ongoing investigations sharpened over the past few years of possible evasion involved in fund transfers between individuals or companies in Sweden and subsidiaries or other companies in low-tax countries...
...They had tried to telephone him several times to make an appointment for a hearing with the police, but had been told that "he wasn't available before April...
...It should be remembered that Sweden almost completely avoided the effects of the economic downturn in the rest of the industrialized world during 1975, despite her heavy dependence on foreign trade...
...Bergman claimed from the beginning that the company had been set up to finance joint film ventures with Federico Fellini, which never came through, and when it was clear that the joint films would not materialize, the company was dissolved...
...In Sweden, income taxes and local taxes are collected together, and property taxes play a very small role...
...It has, among other things, been a lightning rod for natural discontents with the tax burden...
...In fact, the most interesting aspect of the Bergman affair may be, why have the opposition parties done so little to exploit the case politically...
...It was only at this point—given the impending statute of limitations deadline—that they decided to get him at the Theater...
...The Bergman case has clearly hurt the Social Democratic government politically...
...about Swedish society after over 40 years of Social Democratic rule...
...As for the implications of the events surrounding Bergman's arrest, I think the key question is: how often do similar examples of alleged abuse of power by bureaucrats take place...
...According to the policeman in charge...
...In March, the criminal case against him was dropped...
...The company never undertook any projects, and it was dissolved in 1974...
...Most people with high incomes—whose taxes are considerably higher than the 35 percent paid by the average worker—would prefer, of course, to have lower taxes...
...Thus, when figures are given about the "tax bite" in Sweden, it should be remembered that these figures include not only income tax but the functional equivalents of state income taxes and local property taxes...
...Many of the press accounts outside of Sweden implied that Bergman's arrest was merely one in a supposedly enormous universe of such events...
...Swedish taxes are high, even for people in ordinary income brackets...
...The police version is that they didn't have too much time to spare to get hold of Bergman, since the statute of limitations on the crime (which involved his tax return for 1970) was to run out in a few weeks...
...It is possible to argue that the social costs of taxing at a rate that makes successful tax evasion quite profitable, and of a control apparatus to detect tax evasion, do not outweigh the benefits of very high taxes for the rich...
...Newsweek's correspondent in Sweden appears to have a particularly conservative bias and is one of the prime sinners here...
Vol. 23 • September 1976 • No. 4
