The Liberal Party has called the tax minister to a closed-door meeting of the Tax Committee, demanding a report on secure information procedures at the Tax Ministry in connection with the leak of confidential personal tax information to the media.

“It is unacceptable for the tax minister to refuse to comment on the level of security at the Tax Authority. People require the minister to be interested in (the level of) security surrounding sensitive personal information,” Liberal Committee Member Martin Geertsen tells Politiken in an e-mail.

The latest case of leakages from the Tax Authority is in connection with billionaire Jesper Kasi Nielsen. The case is the second in a year, following the leak of personal information regarding Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt and her husband Neil Kinnock prior to last year’s general election.

“Trust in public authorities is contingent on everyone being able to trust the confidentiality of public servants. We must have the minister’s word that security procedures are under control in the system – including at the Tax Authority,” Geertsen says.

The latest leak from the Tax Authority resulted in several articles in Ekstra Bladet about Jesper Nielsen’s tax affairs. Among other issues, the newspaper articles disclosed that the Tax Authority was demanding DKK168million in return funds in connection with his sponsorship of Brøndby IF and the AG København handball club.

The Bailiff’s Court ruled yesterday that Ekstra Bladet may not use the leaked documents in their coverage of the case.

It remains unclear who leaked the documents, but the incident has caused the Tax Authority to report itself to the police in order to have the issue investigated.

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