Martin G. Slørdal
Berit Baumberger
In the spring of 2017, Kent-Ove Dahl started driving a van for a subcontractor to PostNord in central Norway.
– I was encouraged by the person who gave me the job to start a sole proprietorship. It was very simple, it was just a few clicks away, says Dahl.
When the pandemic came, the van industry picked up tremendously: Now there were many people who wanted parcels sent straight to their homes. It was a busy day for Dahl and many others.
Martin Guttormsen Slørdal
– Piled up
For several years, the money ticked into the account, money that came from PostNord via the subcontractor. At the same time, VAT and tax bills started piling up in Altinn’s inbox.
Self-employed people with sole proprietorships are themselves responsible for paying VAT and tax. Nevertheless, Dahl failed to pay.
– I now see that I should familiarize myself with the rules better, notes Dahl.
– Why didn’t you pay the claims, as they came?
– At first I didn’t understand that these were bills I had to pay myself. Then it got worse and worse, and then I didn’t have enough to pay, he says.
Both the accountant and the supplier for whom Dahl drove, he warned along the way about the bills. At one point, the demands approached half a million kroner. In the end, the sole proprietorship was declared bankrupt.
– It has been a nightmare. I am talking to you to warn others, so that others do not end up in the same situation, says Dahl.
READ BELOW: What happens if you don’t pay the bills?
Martin Guttormsen Slørdal
Increasingly more
Figures from Statistics Norway show that the number of sole proprietorships within the transport industry exploded during the pandemic.
Data wrapper
The use of such suppliers – with suppliers below them again – is a common way of organizing in the industry.
Vivek Vaishnavi in the Swedish Tax Agency says the responsibility of the individual driver is great when setting up a sole proprietorship. This also applies if you supply services to another, as Kent-Ove Dahl did.
– You must comply with the duties that apply, such as paying VAT and tax yourself. If not, it can very quickly become expensive. It can be a challenge especially with foreign workers, who do not know the rules, says Deputy Director Vaishnavi.
In November 2022, the A crime center in Oslo controlled 136 people and 90 vans in the van industry. Among them, around NOK 18.2 million was found in unpaid, guilty claims, according to a report.
Kjell-Arve Aspaas has taken a closer look at Kent-Ove Dahl’s case.
Martin Guttormsen Slørdal
– Should have been employed
Local shop stewards in the Swedish Confederation have become familiar with Kent-Ove Dahl’s case. They believe the whole situation could have been avoided.
– Kent-Ove should have been a permanent employee. The employer was responsible for the car and expenses related to it. Kent-Ove was available for work every day and had no control over working hours himself, says Aspaas, head of the Midtnorsk Transportarbeiderforening, a branch of the Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions.
This is refuted by the supplier via the accountant. The case has been dealt with by the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority “without them having concluded that this is an employment relationship,” writes the accountant in an e-mail to LO-Aktuelt and Fagbladet.
However, this is not true, according to the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority.
They were supervised here in autumn 2022, after Kent-Ove had left. Then they assessed another driver and concluded:
The driver was to be considered an employee, and the Working Environment Act had been breached due to the lack of an employment contract and time sheets. The case was then dropped because the driver quit.
The supplier disagrees with the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority’s assessment. Neither the owner of the company nor the accountant wishes to be interviewed.
This year, the term employee in the Working Environment Act’s sections 1–8 was clarified, precisely to make the boundary between contractors clearer.
What would you do if 41 red warning triangles with “overdue claims” flashed at you from the screen? Kent-Ove Dahl tells about a hard-earned experience from the van industry.
screenshot from Altinn
– Cases all over the country
Kjell-Arve Aspaas in the Swedish Confederation believes that responsibility is pulverized in cases where intermediaries are used.
– There are a number of reading and writing difficulties in the industry, and a number of immigrants with a lack of Norwegian skills. This can open the door to social dumping. A driving license does not have to mean competence in accounting or running your own company. It has become too easy to start sole proprietorships and own businesses, Aspaas believes.
LO-Aktuelt has spoken to six transport workers’ associations, and all of them know of cases similar to that of Kent-Ove.
People are struggling financially – and many of them should actually be permanent employees, the union’s people believe.
– This is found in the industry all over the country. Many of those who work independently have never received any training in finance or how to operate, says Jan Erik Aksnes of the Agder Transport Workers’ Association.
Jack Narve Sæther in the Møre og Romsdal Transport Workers Association says it is very easy to set up companies.
– You must hardly even be able to write your name. The employers escape all employer liability, and they do it to save money, says Sæther.
Fredrik Winger-Solvang of the Oslo Transport Workers’ Union is also aware of several cases:
– It is mostly foreign labour, and they are only told that this is the case. It is difficult for many of them to understand the Norwegian bureaucracy, laws and regulations with VAT and taxes, says Wiger-Solvang.
Martin Guttormsen Slørdal
“Day flies”
Roar Melum has been regional manager of the Norwegian Truck Owners’ Association in Trøndelag and knows the van industry well. He has seen many people who have had a financial crash because they have not understood what it means to start a sole proprietorship:
– Yes. We call them “night flies”, because they only live until they are overtaken by the tax authorities’ demands, says Melum.
– They have a certain life cycle before they move in. A year quickly passes without worries, because the system that is supposed to get them in works slowly. There are many reminders and a large use of resources. From the first due date of the VAT claim until you stand in the district court: It takes a long time. You manage to drive a lot of vans in that time. This does not have to be people who deliberately break the law, but people who have not understood their responsibility, says Melum.
He now works for one of the major players in the region.
Took “risk assessment”
Information LO-Aktuelt and Fagbladet have gained access to shows that PostNord AS bought services for more than NOK 20 million from the supplier Kent-Ove worked for, over a period of just over three years. PostNord has terminated the contract with the supplier.
Press manager at PostNord Haakon Nikolai Olsen, replies via e-mail.
– On a general basis, we never comment on previous employment relationships and agreements with suppliers. However, we can confirm that this termination with the aforementioned supplier is due to the review with subsequent risk assessments of suppliers that we initiated in spring 2022, writes Olsen.
Press manager at PostNord Haakon Nikolai Olsen acknowledges that they could be better.
Postnord
PostNord and the Swedish Tax Agency entered into a cooperation agreement a few years ago, which will help them steer clear of unscrupulous companies.
– We recognized at the time that our work around securing serious subcontractors could be improved. Over the past two years, we have implemented several measures to achieve better control, writes PostNord’s press manager.
The supplier disputes that he was dismissed as a result of “risk assessment”. He says he was dismissed already in December 2020, and that PostNord then said they wanted a bigger company.
Martin Guttormsen Slørdal
Propose measures
Fagforbundet Post Midt-Norge has long been committed to getting the van industry better regulated.
– The organized working life, of which our members are a part, is completely outcompeted as a result of a totally unregulated industry. We believe the government must do more, says Knut Marius Lydvo, leader of the Central Norwegian Post Trade Union.
Among other things, they suggest HMS cards, licenses and equity requirements if you want to start a company. HSE cards are already known from the cleaning industry and the construction industry, and with a requirement for a licence, all must be registered.
– Now we compete on completely different terms. An equity requirement could help to raise the threshold for starting up sole proprietorships. People must understand what this entails in terms of risk for themselves and others. It is not certain that everyone will run their own transport companies, says Lydvo.
Looking ahead
Back then is Kent-Ove Dahl, with extremely expensive experience from the transport sector. Now he works in another industry, and is in the process of gaining more control over his finances. The remaining demands from the Tax Agency are deducted from the salary there.
Together with LO-Aktuelt and Fagbladet, he opens Altinn to showcase his private finances:
41 red warning triangles with “overdue claims” light up at us from the screen. With the help of Fellesforbundet, among other things, he has begun to unravel the problems.
– I am looking ahead now, and I hope that something good can come of me standing up in this case, says Kent-Ove Dahl.
What happens if you don’t pay the bills?
If you start a sole proprietorship but do not pay VAT or tax:
• When and how do you get the first warnings? What happens next? And to what extent will you be allowed to continue your business?
Section manager Stian Solheim in the Norwegian Tax Agency explains:
• When tax and duty claims are due, follows from the Tax Payment Act. If you have not paid what you owe by the deadline, we will check how we can get the claim covered. We ship first reminder or notice of forced collection. You can apply for a payment agreement, and we can also set off in credit amounts, i.e. use money you have to your credit to pay what you owe.
• If you still do not pay, the Swedish Tax Agency can carry out an consignment shop. It is to secure values that can cover the requirements. We usually take pledges on bank deposits, housing, cars or inventory.
• If you still do not pay, we will prepare normally compulsory coveragei.e. to sell what is pledged.
• After maturity, you can alternatively apply for payment agreement. If you owe money to several people, the solution must, as a general rule, include everyone. The agreement should not normally last more than two years. For business in continuing operation, the agreement should not normally last more than one year.
• When the Tax Agency promotes bankruptcy petition, the basis is normally that you have accrued larger unpaid claims. Bankruptcy means that all your assets are seized for the benefit of everyone you owe money to. For this to happen, you must be “insolvent”, meaning that you do not have enough assets to cover all debts – or that you have the prospect of getting it.
• It is the courts that can open bankrupt. It only happens if someone asks for it, either those demanding money or yourself.
