skatteregistre

Skatteregistre, or tax registers, are official government-maintained compilations of information about taxpayers, their obligations, and the taxes they owe or have paid. They serve as the backbone of tax administration, supporting assessment, collection, enforcement, and policy analysis. In practice, skatteregistre may include identifiers for individuals and legal entities, income data, property ownership, business activity, tax allowances and credits, payment history, and records of audits, appeals, and settlements. Many jurisdictions maintain separate registers for different taxes (income tax, property tax, value-added tax) while linking them through a central taxpayer registry.

Data in skatteregistre are generated from tax returns, third-party reporting (employers, banks, property registries), and administrative actions. Registers are used by tax authorities to determine liabilities, issue notices, track compliance, and support services such as social benefits where eligibility is linked to tax data. Access to the registers is typically restricted to authorized public bodies and is governed by privacy and data-protection laws, such as GDPR in the EU. Cross-border data exchange and data sharing with other agencies is often regulated and limited to purposes defined by law.

Accuracy and timeliness are key challenges; some data are updated in real time through electronic reporting, while others are refreshed periodically. Interoperability between tax registers and other public records systems (business registries, property registries, social security) is an ongoing objective to improve efficiency and reduce errors.

See also: Tax administration, Tax registry, Privacy law, GDPR, Government data sharing.