Culture and entertainment: John Carew (43) accused of evading NOK 5.4 million tax. He has made it clear during the relationship that he relied on the wrong tax advice and that he didn’t know he was doing anything wrong. The avoidance occurred due to negligence, believes the former football professional.

– This case concerns one of the most fundamental aspects of our tax system. If you live in Norway, you must and must pay taxes to Norway. In short, the charges are based on Carew’s obligation to declare all of his income and assets to the Norwegian tax authorities, said the prosecutor, First State Attorney Marianne Bender as she gave an introductory speech at the Oslo district court.

His defense lawyer, Berit Reiss-Andersen, emphasized in court that his defense was not guilty in relation to the intent of the indictment. So Carew admitted that he should have paid taxes.

The Oslo district court has set aside two weeks for the trial. The former footballer was charged with gross tax evasion for 2014–2016 and willful gross tax evasion for 2017–2019. In total, the kokrim believes it evaded the NOK 5,422,206 tax between 2014 and 2019.

According to Bender, Carew was in Norway for more than 183 days in each of the years covered by the charges.

– He hid his wealth from the Norwegian tax authorities using accounts in Luxembourg and the Isle of Man. That led to him avoiding a total of NOK 5.4 million in taxes, Bender said in an introductory lecture.

There’s no denying that taxes were evaded for a number of years, but Carew believes it was due to negligence. Therefore, he answered no to the guilt question in the third item of the indictment, which includes willful gross tax evasion. He’s sure he didn’t evade taxes on purpose, according to the report E24.

Carew had lived in the United Kingdom for the period covered by the indictment. In Norway, the rule is that if you stay in Norway for more than 183 days a year, you are a resident in Norway for tax purposes.